


Zero Recollection

by Timey_Wimey



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Abandonment, Advanced weaponry, Alternate Universe, Angry Tony, Arc Reactor, Avengers - Freeform, Avengers Tower, BAMF Tony, Blood, Dark Phoenix - Freeform, Dark Tony, Dark!Stark, Dark!Tony, Emotional, Gen, Hatred, Human Experimentation, Hurt Tony, Hydra, Isolation, Kidnapping, Loss, Lost Hope, Mentions of child neglection, Mutants, Partial Stockholm Syndrome, Phoenix - Freeform, Post-Avengers (2012), Potential character death (not really), Psychosis, Red Skull - Freeform, SHIELD, The team is hurt, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark-centric, Tony has Wings, Tony is a Phoenix, Torture, Trust Issues, Unpreventable, Villain Tony, Villainy, Violence, Whump, Winged Tony, X-men - Freeform, failure - Freeform, mental issues, not canon, pain and suffering, powerful tony, powers, purely imagination, search party
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-05-14 07:02:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 29,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19268185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Timey_Wimey/pseuds/Timey_Wimey
Summary: After Tony is captured by HYDRA and is tortured under extreme conditions, The Avengers must deal with the devastating aftermath of a situation which they couldn’t prevent. They are unable to recover one of their most famed members of the team.During the Avengers’ failed attempts of rescue, Tony is eventually driven to a state of insanity in which he believes that his team has abandoned him. He is experimented on, turned into a merciless killer and let loose on the world with a developing hatred for the heroes that he once loved, leaving even his most trusted friends with the loss of his irreplaceable personality.-~-Chapter 10 | After Tony Reunites with Pepper, the progress that the Avengers had made soon goes down the drain. They must come to terms with the situation at hand and come up with a plan to solve the the dilemma.





	1. Missing

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all, this is my first Avengers fanfic, hope you enjoy it. I’ve read fics in the past about Tony Stark being captured and experimented on by the likes of HYDRA, only be turned against The Avengers.. yada yada.. And I thought, you know what?.. why don’t I do something like this to inspire more fics to be made?
> 
> Hope you enjoy ;D

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce comes upon a scene in Avengers Tower that he never expected to see, ever. Upon the discovery of the destruction of a specific section of the tower, he calls for the remaining Avengers help.
> 
> Tony was working on some new arrows for Clint when he was interrupted by an unexpected guest within his lab, and has to deal with the unwanted presence alone.

 

It wasn’t uncommon for The Avengers to see unusual absences of the genius, billionaire Tony Stark. Though with his frequent workshop binges and unquestionable fame, it was soon recognised by them that he appeared to have a lot to deal with. So when Bruce Banner sauntered down to the genius’ lab in Avengers Tower for the fifth time that day in lost hope of getting the exhausted man out of that damned lockdown, only to be met with a scene of mass destruction, that is when he realised that there was something to be worried about.

”JARVIS? What happened in there!? Where’s Tony?” He gasped whilst striding towards the lab entrance after being broken from the initial shock of the mess beyond the thickly enforced glass. He shuffled uncomfortably when he got no response.

”JARVIS?” He repeated with hint of unease plastered into his voice

There was a long eerie silence, only disrupted by a distant hum of the background electricity providing the lighting to the building. Bruce gazed worryingly over the once active lab in wonder of what could have happened; Tables had been carelessly overturned and thrown across the room, along with chairs and many masses of expensive looking machinery. Papers were littered over the surface of the polished marble floor, tools and what looked to be parts of incomplete projects scattered across the zone of destruction. Bruce recognised the faceplate of the newest Iron Man armour that Tony had been showing him the previous day, lost amongst the midst of chaos itself, though still and unmoving, lacking any sign of life. Complex patterns of dangerously deep scrape and scratch marks stretched along the length of a wall, crumbling to the overwhelmed flooring, making it clear of the seriousness of the situation. Shattered glass of a safety screen lay to the side of the scene, cascading towards the back of the room, entwined with drops of rose red blood, trailing away from his line of sight.

”I-I am sorry D-D-Doctor Banner. It appears that my systems were.. h-hacked. I have been unable to access the tower’s security s-systems for over half an hour.” JARVIS spluttered suddenly, concern clearly presented in the AI’s voice

”JARVIS, can you open the lab’s door, this is a serious situation.” Bruce questioned

”Of course Doctor Banner, I recognise that there has been an unwanted presence within Sir’s lab. Under these circumstances, Sir has programmed me to allow the opening of locked rooms by the members of The Avengers.” JARVIS stated as the lab door clicked open

”Unwanted presence?” Bruce frowned

“Yes, Doctor Banner, although my systems were hacked i am still able to monitor the status of each room within the tower’s premises. I recognise that Sir’s lab appears to have been infiltrated.”

Bruce nodded, that _would_ make sense, Tony was usually very strict about the Tower’s security system through the use of JARVIS, he had even gone as far as installing security cameras in every bathroom in the tower, that was until the team as a whole practically begged him to get rid of them because of the obvious lack of privacy.

As Bruce hesitantly stepped into the lab, he was instantly assaulted with the stench of freshly shed blood. _This was **not** good. _He slowly paced forwards into the chaos of the attack, the damage becoming more and more apparent as the details were revealed. An overturned table lay in the middle of the room, it’s wooden legs splintered, blood smothered around the surrounding area. The smeared blood sourced from an area of the lab which was close to a wall, small drops were splattered carelessly towards where the safety glass previously was, which appeared to have shattered, a larger amount of blood pooled out around the shards of glass. The blood then appeared to have been smeared in a long trail towards the couch that Tony was frequently found to be sleeping on, except it crawled around the perimeter and out of Bruce’s line of sight.

He slowly advanced further into the lab, rounding the couch in a more cautious manner.

”Tony?” He whispered quietly a hint of unease clearly displayed within this voice

There was no response. Bruce took this as the option to advance. He stepped around the trail of blood, careful not to slip on the mess or disrupt the possible evidence that they could use to find out what had happened, that is if it was needed.

He stepped around the back of the couch only to freeze, eyes wide with horror at what he saw in-front of him.

“Is the rest of the team still in the tower?” He stated, voice distant, intertwined with dismay

”Yes, Captain Rogers, Mr Barton, Mr Odinson and Miss Romanov are all seated in the communal floor and are currently-“

”Get then down here JARVIS, right now, tell them it’s an emergency.” Bruce interrupted in urgently, his voice raising in volume, a flash of green visible in his eyes

”Right away, Doctor Banner.” JARVIS stated

”Jesus” He muttered under his breath as he stared down in utter disgust at the mass of blood mixed with more shards of rigid glass and small lumps of flesh that pooled down the dark leather material and out around the back of the couch, too much blood for it not to be a fatal injury, and yet, no sign what so ever of the famed genius billionaire; Tony Stark.

 

* * *

Tony Stark was not an idiot, although many thought it. If anything, he could potentially be one of the most dangerous on The Avengers team, as well as the smartest. But with the unexpected entrance of seven men dressed completely in black, wielding what looked to be pretty advanced and weaponised tech, there was not much Tony could do in the small space of time he had to prevent what he knew what was going to happen.

”Banner, I’ve already told you, i’ll be out of this workshop once I’ve finished the updates to Barton’s arrows.” He whined upon hearing the door to the workshop click open “You didn’t need to go especially to Pepper to get the damned override code for-“

He froze, halting his work on Clint’s arrows and stared up to the wall in-front of him, a frown making it’s way onto his features. Something wasn’t right, more than one person entering _his lab_? Tony mentally counted the footsteps approaching without even turning around from his current position;

_one.. two, three, four, five, six... seven.. **seven people?**_

“Your not Banner. Or my team. What do you want? How did you even get in here?” He stated firmly, his eyes taking on a dark look as he swivelled around in his office chair, dropping a screwdriver from his grasp onto the table behind him.

”well, well, well...” a sinister sounding voice spoke from centre of the group of intruders, it had a thick German accent, deep and mocking “If it isn’t Tony Stark himself! I didn’t think that it would have been as easy to get this close to you.. you really need to upgrade the security in this pathetic little excuse for an Avengers Headquarters.” 

A harsh laugh echoed through the empty workshop, and Tony sat, frozen to the spot at the sight of what lay before him, his heart was hammering strongly against the arc reactor in his chest, shouting at him to flee from the situation.

”J?” He whispered out of spite, hoping for the AI to alert the other Avengers in the tower

”I wouldn’t bother, your AI was no problem for my engineers to disable, you are alone Stark, accept it, nobody is coming to save you this time” the man smirked

That accent was familiar, that voice, so very familiar. Tony squinted against the light at the figures that stood in the dark corner of the workshop. Upon closer inspection the ‘leader’ appeared to be wearing a sleek black leather trench coat, tall black  combat boots and slim black trousers. The trench coat has a logo plastered on it’s right bicep, circular, black And red and-

_**Hydra?** Impossible, HYDRA has been confirmed to be out of action for a hell of a long time._

After a short silence, the group of men edged forward after their leader and into the light. Tony gasped, completely taken aback from the presence in his tower.

” _Red Skull?”_ He questioned, eyebrows raising up with disbelief, mouth agape and hands trembling in panic

”That’s right Stark.” Red Skull smiled “Your a very interesting man, Stark. You know I met your father once? Your nothing like him.. HYDRA could use someone like you, you know. Although your father created Captain America, he was not up to HYDRA’s standards, he was a very.. despicable man, self-centred, like yourself, but so much less.”

”Don’t get me wrong here, my _father_  most definitely treated me like shit throughout my childhood, but not up to HYDRA’s _standards?_ Your saying that you’ve wanted a Stark on Hydra’s side all this time, and waited deliberately until I was of the _correct standard_ to come and whip me out from my life and into yours?” Tony snarked, pointing a slim finger towards the Skull

“Precisely. Your social presence as the _hero_  Iron Man has proved quite an amount of your physical capabilities which we require.” Red Skull mused, approaching the certified genius from the side of the room

Tony stood from the chair he was seated on and took an uneasy step back from the intruders, his breathing becoming more pronounced and uneven, a hand protectively covering the arc reactor, his eyes desperately searching for an escape

”I’ll never go with you.” Tony snarled, taking on a more defensive stance against the opposition

”Then we will have to work around this the hard way, like I said Stark, nobody is coming to save you, your AI is disabled and the communication link to you team is offline. You. Are. Alone.” Red Skull stated “One last chance. Come with us or we will have to take the matter into our own hands.”

Tony eyed the men behind the uncomfortably close proximity of the Red Skull, their weapons were readied, glowing with pale blue energy, and if that isn’t threatening enough, the man closest to the Skull appeared to be wielding a pretty dangerously sharp looking set of energy powered claws.

Tony took a deep shuddering breath, making the impossible decision of life or death, but he knew that either way, he had a good chance of dying anyway, this was HYDRA for christ’s sake, they don’t just let their prisoners go easily, unlike the ten rings who had a pretty bad system of keeping their hostages from escaping.

”Never.” He growled, making a sudden leap for the workshop’s exit, where he would be able to make an attempt to reach the other unsuspecting Avengers and get rid of the intruders for good

Tony clumsily vaulted over a work bench, sending his office chair straight into the Red Skull. Important papers, schematics and tools clattered to the marble flooring, before he stumbled to the ground himself, slicing his hand on a lethally placed screwdriver and sending small blood drops onto the floor below him. He groaned, picking himself up and pushing his way towards the exit.

”HOL IHN DIR!” Red Skull thundered to the weaponised men, throwing the chair onto it’s side and radiating with extreme anger as Tony scrambled away

There was a distinctive whine as five individual weapons were charged and began to rapidly fire towards the defenceless genius who was desperately trying to get away.

The shots miraculously missed the genius altogether, burning into the walls and floor, leaving blackened marks in their wrath. There was a short silence and Tony looked back, confused at their sudden pause, only to be met by the sound of a single set of footsteps and the sight of the man armed with the deadly looking claws approaching his position.

The man walked straight towards the workbenches and machinery blocking his path towards Tony, face emotionless and dark as the claws were raised and slashed upon the obstructions in his path, sending the benches and machinery onto their backs and sides, sliced into unsalvageable scraps. Behind the chaos, Red Skull smiled, a shark-like expression which cast manic shadows across his blood red skin, he knew that Stark wouldn’t be able to escape this.

Tony cringed as the man with the claws approached, holding his bleeding hand tightly whilst shuffling back against the nearest wall. He quickly made his way to his feet, standing like a cornered animal as the hostility approached. In a sudden, the claws were primed and raised, and Tony yelped, dodging out of the direct aim for his head. The man grunted, the weapon on his right hand lodged deeply into the workshop wall, and Tony took this to his advantage, he turned to the exit only to realise that the men with the guns were now surrounding the door to his only escape.

Cursing under his breath, he turned again and fled in the other direction, following the wall to another section of his workshop, still holding his injured hand tightly against his chest.

There was an immediate _screech_ as he noticed that man had given up in attempting to pull his claws directly from the wall, and instead was pulling them through the wall, creating vigorously gut wrenching claw marks directly towards the terrified genius. After another sharp pull, the claws came free with a _shink,_ and the claw wielding man pounced towards Tony with a animalistic snarl, his face still as emotionless as ever _._

Tony shrieked and attempted to pull back, but it was too late. The claws on the man’s left hand plunged directly through his abdomen, tearing up his flesh and muscle, maybe even breaking some bones on their way through. He gasped, all the oxygen suddenly taken from his lungs and the pain began to seep through every inch of his conscious body.

He looked directly into the clawed man’s emotionless eyes which contained a sort of achievement deep within them and an eerie silence spread across the room, with only the sound of Tony’s laboured lack of breathing reverberating across the walls of the workshop.

Tony looked down at his abdomen, eyes wide with horror and disbelief at what he saw, blood continuously streaming out from a deep and most definitely fatal wound which punctured directly through his body, the tips of five blood coated claws triumphantly poking through the material on his back. He stared long enough to see the claws being pulled harshly from his body, ripping up more flesh on their way out.

Once the claws were retreated, Tony found himself unable to stand, but the man caught him by the neck before he collapsed and forcefully threw him across the room, sending him crashing into the safety glass screen, shards of deadly glass scattering across the the space behind him, puncturing his clothing and digging deep into the flesh of his back, arms, legs and head, as well as slashing a number of deep wounds across the surface of his grimacing face which was contorted in masses of pain. His body unwillingly collapsed onto the cold, unwelcoming ground, a dangerous amount of sickly warm blood still pooling around his pasty white skin and suffering body. He gagged and greedily sucked in a portion of oxygen for the first time in what seemed like an eternity as his body convulsed and shook uncontrollably on the floor, curling in on himself in attempt to dull the pain. His vision blurred at the sides and a sudden feeling of wooziness enveloped his head in what felt like cotton wool as the pain electrocuted his body, sending unbearable waves of agony across every inch of his frame, all stemming from the wound in his side and the individual stab wounds from the broken glass that scattered across the whole of his body.

He could vaguely register that the Red Skull was smirking over his failing form, a deadly expression of sinister mystery plaguing his features as his men stood close behind him, observing their victory from a short distance away. Tony could see his mouth moving, ushering harsh words that were most likely directed at his well-being, though he could hear no sound. Only the scream of his erratic heartbeat pounding against the arc reactor was now audible along with the harsh _whooshing_ in his ears which constricted his ability to hear, which was most likely caused by the pain and shock that his body was now struggling in.

Tony groaned and spluttered, blood dripping out from his mouth, adding to the pool beneath him before instinct kicked in. He growled in pain as he attempted to crawl from his current position, the world was spinning around him and everything seemed so blurry and unclear from his perspective. He managed to crawl his way around the back of the nearby couch, a trail of horrific blood smeared by his clothes onto the spotless marble flooring marked his attempt to escape despite his horrendous injuries. He gasped for more air but struggled to find it, by this point he could hardly see, his head lolled to the side from the dizziness and fuzziness of his oxygen deprived and pain induced mind after he propped himself up against the straight back of the couch, his vision blurring on the verge on unconsciousness.

The last thing he saw was the Red Skull crouching down in-front of his hunched, and blood covered form, a smile plastered onto his face in amusement before he fell into the welcoming arms of the unconscious state of comforting and carefree darkness.

 

 

**_ To Be Continued... _ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation~
> 
> ‘Hol Ihn Dir’ - German for ‘Get him’  
> (according to google translate)


	2. Imprisonment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony wakes up to a new surrounding, restrained and bound to a metal gurney with little understanding of how he got there. He learns more about his captors and the seriousness of the situation he is in.

 

The first thing Tony felt when he began to recover from his unconscious state was the icy cold metal bed that he lay upon. The coldness of his surroundings etched into his bones, making his body shudder and ache from the lack of heat.

He attempted to open his eyes, only to be assaulted by a harsh white light. He groaned, scrunching his eyes shut at the sudden sensory overload of the room around him. He tried to lift a hand to rub at his face to rid the oncoming ache in his head, only to be met by a restraining force against his wrist which prevented him from moving his arms. He frowned and braced himself for the overly bright light of the room. Slowly but surely, he pried his eyes open and took in the surrounding area.

The room he was in was medium in size but lacked in any furbishments, the walls were bare, white in colour but their age was clear due to the crumbling surface of the powdery cement and the presence of lingering mold, growing in the deepest corners of the room due to the severely damp conditions of the building. The floor was grey and tiled, overly smooth but cracked in the odd place out of age. The tiles were mottled with stains of unknown substances, and on a wall directly behind Tony was a metal door, dented and rusted in the odd place but still standing and strong.

Above Tony, on the ceiling, was numerous rows of long bright LED lights, blinding to the human eye, deliberately bright enough to make the room’s occupants squint in the sudden increase of light intensity.

Tony himself, upon closer inspection and movement tests, found himself strapped down and restrained by the ankles, chest, wrists and head to a metal gurney which had been tilted upwards to an almost vertical position, though still at a slight slant.

He lay helplessly on the gurney, his breathing as the only source of comfort for the increasing feeling of panic within his body. The longer he lay, the more aware he became of a dull ache in his abdomen, along with the odd tingle of pain in particular areas of his body which included around his back, arms and face.

Tony scrunched his eyes shut again, the memories of how he managed to get into this mess flooding through his mind. But wasn’t he injured? He was bleeding out onto his workshop’s floor, he should be _dead._

A sudden groan of rusted and unused metal brought him back from deep within his thoughts and to the current reality that was slowly setting into play.

”Mr Stark!” a familiar voice exclaimed “I see your finally awake”

The Red Skull rounded the back of the metal gurney, taking a place directly in-front of Tony’s restrained frame, along with another unknown man dressed in a sleek HYDRA uniform who stood neatly beside him, silent and unmoving.

”Tell me, Stark” He started “How are you feeling, last time we met you weren’t in the best of shapes were you?”

”Fuck you” Tony slurred, finding it hard to maintain a steady flowing voice

The Skull simply laughed, amusement spreading across his sinister looking features. Even his HYDRA accompaniment appeared amused, a small but dark looking smile directed towards Tony flashed upon his face.

”Well Stark, even though you appear to be adamant in your traits of selfishness, may I inform you that we, HYDRA, tended to you wounds?” Red Skull smiled “If we had left you, you would have bled to death in a matter of minutes, an unpleasant sight for your friends, eh? You should be pleased though, I have no intentions of killing you, I only want to make you _better,_ improve your capabilities for our greater cause.”

”T-they’re going to come for me, my t-team. T-they will destroy y-you” Tony breathlessly stated, more to himself than the hostiles in-front of him.

”Oh but Mr Stark” the other HYDRA agent started, his accent thick with German origin “You’ve already been with us for four whole days, you have been unconscious for that length of time, your injuries required intensive attention from some of our best medical teams. Do you really think that your team would still be searching for you after your mysterious disappearance? They never did care for you that much, did they now?” 

Tony stilled suddenly, realisation hitting his rigid and exhausted body

” _four days?_ ” He whispered distantly, frowning and staring intently down to the space between the two HYDRA members, the amount thought clear through his expressionless and vacant face.

”Indeed.” Red Skull replied confidently “Not much of a team you have on your side, Stark. Leaving you like this, it must remind you so much of the way your Father treated you.”

” _Don’t. You. Dare_.” Tony growled, his voice a dangerous whisper, as eyes darkened and he stared the Red Skull down, his body tense against the restrains, screaming to be let loose against the monstrosity standing before him.

”Ah.. and there it is. This is the Tony Stark we are looking for.” The Skull smiled dangerously “Don’t you worry. We are going to fix you, make you into a better version of yourself, you will rise again my friend. Though it will take time.”

Tony stared into the Skull’s dark eyes, as if in search for any answers or what was going on, but found none. He fixed onto the Skull’s face, disbelieving and wide-eyed, unable to comprehend what exactly they were going to do to him.

”What are you going to do to me?” Tony urgently spluttered to the Red Skull, his eyes flicking over his expressionless face

”Take him to the next stage, I want to make the progress quick this time.” Red Skull quietly ordered to the other HYDRA agent, making sure that Tony could not hear what exactly he was saying “Make sure The Avengers have no leads to go from as well, we don’t want them on our tail, it will only disrupt the progress of his advancement.”

”What are you doing-“ Tony gasped, panic becoming more apparent in his voice as he thrashed against the restraints of the gurney. The HYDRA agent moved towards the gurney, flipping the orientation to a horizontal position so Tony was lying directly on his back “no, p-please- you can’t, GET OFF ME!”

Red Skull stood back from the scene, observing intently as his plan was put into place. The gurney was repositioned into the centre of the room with Tony lying on his back, facing the ceiling which was covered with the bright intense lights. A large trolly was then wheeled into the room by two more agents that looked to be of medical personnel, they were dressed in plain white shirts and pants, again with the large circular HYDRA emblem stitched onto the right bicep. The trolly was covered from head to toe of unpleasant looking torture equipment which ranged from pliers, rusting knives, and lumps of raggy materials that were ready to be put into use as torturous gags. A large tub was then wheeled in after the trolly, and was placed off to the side of the room, it was filled to the brim with ice cold water. Finally a man entered wearing a similar outfit to the previous medical personnel, except his clothing consisted of more red material thaN white, clearly a highly placed member of the HYDRA medical team. The man strode up to the gurney where Tony was placed, an IV stand tightly in his grip. On it, was an IV bag which contained some sort of pale red-orange glowing mixture. The substance appeared alive at a first glance, it swirled and thrived within the bag, a swarm of fiery colours darkening and lightening with a range of different shades depending on the movement around it.

Upon seeing the IV and what it contained, Tony began to thrash desperately against the restraints in attempt to pull away from the offending medics, but it was no use, there was no what he was going to get out of this, so he fell limp against the gurney, his panicked breaths coming in both shallowly and harshly as he eyed the IV being prepared especially for him.

A strip of material was hastily wrapped and tied around his mouth by one of the medics in the room as he continued to blindly thrash and writhe against his captors. A needle was then steadily aimed towards the vein that was clearly visible in the middle of his left arm, and the surrounding occupants of the room that had previously been bustling around in preparation appeared to still, drawn in by curiosity of what was about to happen. The medic that was presumed to be the leader of this quadrant of HYDRA paused, looking up around at each individual in the room. The Red Skull still stood at the side of room, silently observing the situation unfold with a devilish smirk slowly spreading across his face. 

Tony took a deep shuddering breath as the needle neared, still eyeing the personnel with unease through the corner of his eye, due to the fact that his head was strapped tightly down to the gurney. His body was tense and rigid, hands balled into fists, his nails digging deeply into his hands. The needle inched it’s way slowly into his arm, and Tony grimaced and attempted to pull back, straining against the restraints as the coldness of the thick metal slithered into his flesh. The medic then taped the needle down to the skin of Tony’s arm and moved to turn the switch in the IV line to begin the infusion of what ever was in the damned bag. They still hadn’t bothered to tell him what they were giving him, whether it was dangerous or not.

Tony braced himself as the switch was turned and the glowing liquid began to steadily flow down the line and into his bloodstream.

The reaction was instant. As soon as the liquid entered Tony’s bloodstream, his veins began to glow with a fiery shade of red-orange which quickly began to spread upwards and onto the edges of his face, the liquid highlighted the mass of veins both around and directly in his eyes,  lighting up his irises with a blood red fury, entwined with flicks of orange and yellow that radiated with power. He let out a strangled scream as the liquid set his veins on fire, an excruciating pain flowing through every inch of his consciousness. His vision blurred and his head became woozy within a matter of seconds, and he found that he was too exhausted to even attempt to fight the pain, so he ceased the writhing movements against the restraints and fell limp once again, only the odd twitch of pain as any indication for his suffering. 

It was again silent for a very long period of time, and Tony was suddenly hyper-aware of the eyes that traced his every movement, watching in curiosity as his veins continued to glow and his breathing became even more pronounced, perhaps on the lines of hyperventilation. His fists clenched and unclenched repeatedly in attempt to rid of the pain radiating through his rigid body and he could barely register the hushed voices in the room over the noise in his head. He growled in rage as the liquid coursed and pulsed through his body, slowly altering his genetic coding into something _more_ , something _powerful_ and full of a newly found hatred.

”Stark, what do you feel of your _friends_ now? The Avengers, yes?” Red Skull mused, walking forwards from the side of the room “They have well and truly _abandoned_ you, haven’t they.”

Tony’s breathing rapidly sped up at the mention of The Avengers, his brow pinched as his body jerked violently against the gurney. His throat radiated an almost inhuman growl and his red glowing eyes pierced into the Skull’s soul, flashing with vibrant colour as his veins pulsed again with an unaccounted power.

”Do not threat my friend, you have us over those who have abandoned you.” The Skull sympathised, gently brushing back some of the shaking genius’s hair “You will rise from the ashes when the time comes, You will be our Phoenix.”

Tony continued to stare at the Skull, eyes radiating with rage and confusion that was blinding his rational thinking. He couldn’t comprehend that _The Avengers,_ his friends, no, _his family_ had left him for the dead. They had abandoned him, betrayed all he had ever done for them and left him to become something more. The genius’ eyes followed the the Skull as he pulled his face away from his restrained form, as if he was entranced by his ‘truthful’ speaking and it was all that currently mattered.

”This is exactly what I wanted, he his reacting in a way which will quickly progress the stages. I believe that we have made a revolutionary choice my friends.” The Red Skull mused as he turned away from the retrained genius “Progress him onto Stage Two. Heil HYDRA!” 

“Heil HYDRA!” The medical personnel barked and nodded simultaneously, raising their hands in the HYDRA salute as Tony lay helplessly on the gurney, the Red Skull gazing over him in gratitude, his veins glowing at an alarming rate, and his irises radiating a newly found rage. The eyes, although were open, showed little signs of consciousness as they continuously stared into a void of unending darkness.

 

 

**_ To Be Continued... _ **


	3. SHIELD meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The remaining Avengers team gather in the SHIELD Helicarrier for a meeting with Nick Fury. All are in hope of finding leads on what happened to Tony.

 

It has been five days since Bruce walked in upon the destruction of Tony Stark’s workshop in Avengers Tower, along with the mysterious disappearance of the self proclaimed genius. In the time that the genius had been publicly announced to be missing, the media had gone wild. Rumours were beginning to pop up about Stark having underlying mental issues, that stemmed from the rumours of his undiagnosed PTSD after Afghanistan. Many thought that he had probably run off to one of his many other homes in need of a vacation, whilst others speculated that he had been captured by some sort of personal enemy of Iron Man, which wasn’t entirely wrong.

News teams were constantly filming live reports on the outskirts premises of Avengers Tower, announcing any news released on the missing Avenger. But the truth be known, nobody had a clue of what happened to Stark, not even The Avengers. Obviously, the team knew more about the fact that Stark was most definitely kidnapped from the Tower, because they had to deal with the aftermath of his destroyed lab, though they didn’t tell the media about this. They wanted to keep things quiet.

Due to the hacking and disabling of Stark’s AI, JARVIS, who normally has visual and audio access to every camera in the Avengers Tower, they have little evidence of who captured Stark from his workshop and if he was even alive. JARVIS would have been able to view and contact the other Avengers about the situation at hand, but according to the AI, someone or something had managed to disable him before they even entered the building.

”Were flying blind here, with no evidence of who took Stark, how are we even meant to find him?” Steve questioned as he slumped down in his chair, his hope of finding Stark was slowly fading.

The remaining Avengers had resorted to calling SHIELD after what they had found, simply because they needed as much help as they could find in this situation. They were currently all seated in the SHEILD Helicarrier meeting room; Steve, Bruce and Natasha were all seated solemnly at the conference table, Thor leaning against a wall to the back of the room, face expressing his grief, Clint on the other hand was staring out the window at the other side of the room, distancing himself from the conversation as Nick Fury and Maria Hill stood in-front of a projector screen side by side.

”You forget that we have the public CCTV on our side, Captain.” Agent Hill interjected “If we are in any hope of finding Stark, and are sure that he was kidnapped, there has to be some sort of footage that caught hold of his capture.” 

“We have some of our best research teams working on finding Stark” Fury added “If anything does come up, it will at least give us a starting point to finding him.”

”But it has already been five treacherous days since Friend Stark has vanished” Thor stated, voice lacking it’s usual joy “I fear we may already be too late.” 

The room stayed silent for a long moment as the occupants digested the meaning of Thor’s statement. Fury looked down at the floor, worry for the man he knew clear in his features.

”We can’t just give up on him.” Natasha said after a long moment, lifting her gaze from the table “Just think of all the times he’s saved us. Now it’s our turn to save him.” 

“Nat’s right.” Clint agreed, turning to face the rest of the room “If there is any chance of finding him, we need to give it our all.”

As if on cue, an electronic device beeped from Fury’s wrist. All eyes turned to meet his, determination of finding their lost friend setting into the atmosphere around them as he lifted his arm to peer down at the watch-like device strapped to his wrist. He left out a small sigh of relief and looked at every individual in the room, one by one.

”They’ve found the footage of his capture.” Fury stated, little emotion seeping through his single eye.

In an instant, the room sprung into action, the Avengers sat up on the edges of their seats, Thor and Clint joining the team at the table, sitting on the remaining seats that were allocated to them. Agent Hill shuffled uncomfortably on the spot, handing a tablet over to Fury so that he could pull up the files of Tony’s capture on the projector screen. After a few quick taps and swipes, and a tense silence, the footage flashed onto the screen before them and began to play.

_The footage was taken from a CCTV camera on the corner of a building in what appeared to a dark alleyway, quiet and abandoned, no onlookers to observe the capture, or so they thought. A small black van pulled up through the alleyway and came to a halt, seven men striding out from it; two from the front, five from the double doors on the back. The footage was grainy and unfocused, so it was unable to get a good look at the offenders and what they properly looked like, though six of the seven appeared to be wielding some sort of glowing weapons and all of them wore almost identical black outfits that concealed their identities. This was all apart from one. One of the men that got out from the passenger side in the front of the van wore a long black trench coat and appeared unarmed, at first glance it appeared that he was wearing a red mask to conceal his identity._

_The group of men gathered together, presumably talking about the mission that they were going ahead with before one of them pulled out a small rectangular device and started to flick and alter controls around on an illuminated screen_

“That’s what they would have used to hack into JARVIS and disable him.” Bruce recognised and Fury nodded, his brow pinched as he strained his eyes upon the device “Maybe some sort of signal jammer that would prevent JARVIS from accessing the cameras and contacting us of their presence in the Tower.”

 _The man with the signal jammer then looked up to the man with the red mask who stood a reasonable distance away and nodded in his direction before the device was put back into the van and the group disappeared off into the distance of the alley, weapons armed as they rounded a sharp corner, moving from the camera’s line of sight._  

“The alley that this was taken in is located directly behind Avengers Tower.” Fury said as he looked around the room “The path would lead them to the emergency exit door at the back of the Tower, giving them a clear path to access the elevator up to Stark’s lab, how they managed to get through his lockdown protocol is still unknown.”

”Maybe they obtained some sort of master override code?” Steve suggested

”Considering that they managed to hack and disable JARVIS, I would say that they had another device that could break through the security code on the door to his workshop.” Natasha said, professionalism taking over her tone

The rest of the room nodded in agreement at this idea, it would only make sense that if they were able to hack JARVIS that they would have some advanced tech that could break through any code, no matter the complexity of it.

“The group were gone for just over twenty minutes, this includes the time it would he taken for them to reach Stark’s workshop and bring him back down to the van.” Agent Hill confirmed, watching as Fury skipped onto a later timeframe of the CCTV footage

_The footage carried on where it left off, only the surroundings appeared to be a littler darker meaning that it was getting well into night when they returned. There was a sudden movement from the back of the alley and the group of six men appeared, running to the van at a quick pace, carrying a limp form in between their arms._

There was a collective gasp as the Avengers realised that it was Tony that they were carrying.

_The men rounded the back of the van, nearing the camera, giving the room a good look at the damage they did to Tony. There was a trail of blood dripping down to the floor from an angry looking wound that pierced through his abdomen which had no doubt caused some serious injury. Smaller less serious stab wound littered his unconscious body, covering his unprotected face and arms in smears of horrific blood. The doors of the van were then pulled open roughly by the men that were holding onto Tony’s upper torso, and he was slowly lifted into the back of the van. Behind them, the man in the red mask approached the group and came into a better focus of the camera._

“Impossible.” Steve gasped as the others glanced at him in confusion “It can’t be him.”

_As the man approached, the details of his appearance became clearer. The red mask was in-fact the man’s face, blood red in colour with rather skeletal features. He wore a black trench coat with a large circular, red and black emblem stitched onto the right bicep of the coat. Once he neared the back of the van, he appeared to take notice of the camera that pointed down on them, shouting towards the men and pointing a gloved hand up to to the lens of the camera, he appeared to order them to take down the CCTV. One of the men that was helping to lift Tony into the back of the van instantly left the job to the remaining five men, lifting up a menacing looking weapon and charging it up, sending a pale blue blast of energy  rocketing towards the CCTV camera and the footage flickered to a black grainy screen, leaving no more evidence to follow of where they took Tony._

Silence stretched out across the room as Steve continued to stare at the static screen, eyes wide in disbelief. The others looked over at him, concern and worry clear on all of their faces.

”Steve, who was that?” Clint questioned as he observed the captain’s vacant expression

”Red Skull.” Steve announced quietly “T-that was _The_ Red Skull.”

”Red Skull is the leader of HYDRA. Until today, we thought that he was dead and that HYDRA was diminished, now that we know that they are the cause of Stark’s capture, we have a lot more to worry about.” Fury stated in mourning “Not only have HYDRA returned, but they have taken a key member of The Avengers, we can only guess what they have planned to do to him.”

”HYDRA are known to be the creators of The Winter Soldier.” Agent Hill added “Mr Rogers, I understand that what they did to James Barnes barbaric, but in understanding of what they created, we have to consider the possibility if them doing it again.”

”Who is this Winter Soldier?” Thor asked frowning at the other members of the meeting in confusion

”The Winter Soldier was Bucky Barnes, my best friend back in the day.” Steve sighed, clearly uncomfortable talking about the topic “We were fighting side by side on a mountain train, Bucky.. he uh... he fell to what I thought was his death. Turns out that HYDRA recovered him before his died and they tortured him, brainwashed into being one of HYDRA’s.. _weapons_. They gave him a mechanical arm to replace the one he lost in the fall, along with a replication of Howard Stark’s super Soldier serum. It didn’t have the same effects as the serum given to me, but it gave him more strength than the average Human Being. HYDRA had frozen Bucky in a cryogenic chamber for years that prevented him from ageing and dying.”

”That was until me and Steve came across him a year ago, he had been unfrozen and was within HYDRA’s hold, though we didn’t tell the public that HYDRA was involved only the higher members of SHIELD knew about their return.” Natasha remarked, Fury nodded sharply at her statement.

”So, if HYDRA still have Tony right now, how are we going to find him?” Bruce asked “There is bound to be hundreds of different HYDRA bases scattered across the world.”

”Since we know that Red Skull is involved,” Clint started, gaining the other’s attention “Don’t you think we could rule the smaller bases out? Since he is the _leader_ , you would think that he would be in one of the biggest and most securely advanced HYDRA bases.”

”Yes, we could do that.” Fury replied “I could pull up a map of all the previously known HYDRA bases that will most likely be in the SHIELD database. From this we could narrow down the possibilities by picking out the largest of the bases.”

”I’ll get our research team to look into it, Sir.” Agent Hill said to Fury as she exited the meeting room through the automatic double doors

”Once we have the locations of the largest bases, we are going to have to act quickly.” Fury ordered “We can’t afford to waste anymore time on failed rescue attempts. Stark will need us as soon as possible, we are most definitely running out of time and options to save him. Go and get suited up, it won’t be long until we get those results back. You are all dismissed.” 

There was a cacophony of “yessirs” from the remaining Avengers as they stood from the meeting table, a newly found determination visible in each of their eyes. They silently filed out of the meeting room and walked down the bustling corridor to the Avengers’ temporary quarters in the Helicarrier’s lower levels.

The long walk to the quarters was completely silent. Each of the group stuck deep within their thoughts as they came to terms with the situation. After reaching the quarters, the team gathered their weapons and suits and began to ready themselves for a fight that could result in the loss of a valuable friend. But they tried their best not to think like that. Tony was their friend, part of their family, they couldn’t just expect the worst of the situation, they had to stay strong for his sake.

”Hey cap, you alright?” Clint asked as he approached Steve in full Avengers gear

”Yeah, I.. I was just thinking.” Steve replied with a small smile “I just hope that Tony’s alright, god knows what they’ve done to him so far, but whatever they have done, he doesn’t deserve it.”

”Hey man, I’m sure Tony will be fine, he’s a tough guy and he’s already been through a hell of a lot. Not that many people can deal with what he’s been through.” Clint remarked confidently “The guy’s taken a damned _nuke_ through a _wormhole_ before, if he survived that, I’m pretty sure that he’ll be able to survive this.”

”I know.” Steve agreed nodding sadly “It’s just the thought that this is _HYDRA_ that we are dealing with, that _Tony_ is dealing with. They’re not just your everyday criminals, this organisation means _business._ I’ve faced them too many times before, and I _know_ that when they want something, they will not hesitate to get it. And I don’t know if I will be able-“

”Steve.” Clint firmly interrupting the captain’s rambling, looking straight into his eyes as he placed a gentle hand on his shoulder “We are going to get him back, and HYDRA will have hell to pay for what they have done, there’s no question about it.”

The captain looked Clint as he mulled over what had just been said to him. He nodded slowly, accepting that they still have a good chance to get their friend back.

Steve took a deep breath as the rest of the Avengers entered the communal room of the quarters, each wearing their signature costumes. Thor was gripping Mjölnir tightly in his hand, his red cape cascading down his back. Hawkeye had his bow and quiver strapped tightly to his back, ready for battle. Black Widow had her widow bites attached to her wrists, guns and knives holstered securely to her body. Bruce was wearing the purple stretchy pants that Tony had especially made for him, capable of withstanding the transformation of the Hulk. And Captain America himself stood firmly in-front of them, shield firmly grasped on his arm.

They _were_ going to get Tony back, _whatever it takes._

 _”Avengers”_ Steve announced  _“Assemble!”_

 

 

_** To Be Continued... ** _


	4. Loosing Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a total of seven days in captivity, Tony is beginning to loose hope on the Avengers ever coming to rescue him.

 

For what seemed like the hundredth time, Tony struggled to hold his breath as his head was roughly shoved under gallons of ice cold water. Water boarding was his most feared mode of torture. After the experience of water boarding in Afghanistan, among other torture methods, Tony was left with a severe case of PTSD which he refused to be diagnosed with. He would frequently wake up in the middle the night with a start, covered with a sheen of cold sweat, blindly screaming at the top of his lungs and begging the terrorists to stop. So, if you ever wanted to break the one and only Tony Stark, water boarding would well and surely do the trick.

After a whole week in captivity with HYDRA, Tony was beginning to loose the last of his shattered hope for the Avengers to miraculously show up in his aid. His mind was scrambled from the extensive torture, forced to believe that his family had long since abandoned him and that HYDRA was his new family, his new home. He was whipped, drowned, hanged, battered and scarred, assaulted, cut and _tortured._ Tortured, until his mind was slowly pried away from his usual snarky personality, and into a state of isolated confusion, but most importantly anger, betrayal and _hatred_. He was being taught to hate the Avengers for leaving him, abandoning him after all that he ever did for them. He was being taught to be the _bad guy_ with no remorse. He was told that it is okay to punish those who have mistreat him in the past, to free their sins from the world and make it a better place. But if HYDRA were the ones that he punished, Tony soon found out that he would be punished in turn. He must not hurt his new family, _ever_.

He gagged as a fresh portion of ice water poured down through his lungs, burning his insides and choking the remaining oxygen from the inside of his body. The thrashed against the side of the tub, sending eerie bubbles of water to the surface as he struggled, lumps of the liquid slopping over the edge as he tried his best at lashing out at a HYDRA agent that had his head held firmly under the water. But the torture didn’t falter, the water continued to pour in, making his body feel limp and exhausted, his chest ache and his head explode with agony from the lack of oxygen. His body flailed in the agent’s grip, coming to a sudden halt as the fight in him drained.

Tony was suddenly ripped away from the water’s unforgiving grasp and thrown harshly down to the tiled floor, chest heaving as he coughed up the remnants of the misplaced liquid. He been given two IV bags of the glowing mixture in the time since he woke up, tortured and tormented in the time in between. He had yet to be told what he was being given, and what exactly it was doing to him, but Tony felt _different,_ he felt alive and energetic, but he also felt a presence within his mind, something that was not there prior to his capture. It felt unbelievably powerful, thrashing itself against his brain like a wild and caged animal, desperate to be free of his self control.

He shivered on the floor, breathing heavily as he vomited up the unconsumed water from his lungs. His fists clenched closely against his sides, shaking with unaccounted panic.

”Now Mr Stark, I don’t think you would want to try that again would you?” Red Skull sneered, grabbing the back of Tony’s head and lifting him high enough peer into his eyes “You should know by now that attempting to punish a member of HYDRA will only lead to your _own_ punishment. I don’t know what you have to fear anyways, your _pathetic family_ have long since abandoned you, HYDRA is you new family, Stark. Behave yourself through your treatment, and you will be rewarded greatly! No more torture!”

Tony simply stared, his eyes wide and vacant as a fiery glow continued to be emitted from them. 

“I think the Phoenix Serum is beginning to take action on your body isn’t it? You see we have been giving you some very concentrated amounts of phoenix blood within the solution of x-gene enhanced genetic coding.” Red Skull announced proudly peering intently at the broken man “Tell me, can you feel a presence in your mind, Stark? A presence that is desperate to break free?”

He did not reply.

Red Skull tightened his grip on Tony’s hair, tearing skin from scalp. He yelled out as a sharp pain reverberated through his skull and his vision blackened at the sides.

“ANSWER ME!” The Skull thundered, his jaw clenched and teeth bared in annoyance

In a sudden, something in Tony snapped as he stared at the Skull’s distorted features, something dark and full of hatred. His hands flew up to his head and he screamed as an unbearable pain coursed it’s way sharply through his brain, blindly throwing a fist at the Skull’s head that caused the red faced man to sprawl backwards onto floor. He slowly, gingerly sunk to the ground, hands trembling and clinging tightly to his head, fingers tearing at his scalp as he scurried away from the other occupants of the room.

He grimaced, his face contorted in immense pain and suffering as his veins began to pulse with power and his eyes flashed with a rage filled fury. In an instant, the pain halted just as quick as it started and his face fell, breathing becoming more steady as he let his hands fall from his head. The genius remained seated in the ground, hunched over against a nearby wall, head lowered so a menacing shadow was cast across his unmoving brow. 

The Red Skull sat as still as a statue in utter bewilderment of what just happened, staring at the now emotionless genius in awe of his current state. He knew that he was going to be taking part in the creation of an extremely powerful entity, but Stark hadn’t even completed the full treatment, and the power that he is already withholding was almost unmeasurable. The sheer force of what Stark had hit him with was enough to send his head spinning, and the last person to hit him with that sort of force was Captain America. The must be something wrong, their calculations most certainly proved that that amount of strength would only be accessible when all the stages had been successfully advanced upon. 

Tony was still for a very long moment, long enough that it made the Skull think that he could be dead, through his veins still radiated with power. His eyes were clenched shut, hidden under the darkly cast shadow of his brow. The HYDRA personnel watched, frozen to the spot in an eerie silence as Tony slowly opened his eyes and raised his head, revealing shockingly bright red eyes swirling with yellow and orange hatred.

” _Stark_.” Red Skull pleaded

” _ **Stark’s not here, Skull.** ” _It growled deeply, his voice taking on a tone very unlike Tony’s.

The Red Skull broke out in a fit of uncontrollable laughter as not Stark, but _Phoenix_  sat before him.

“It worked!” Red Skull spluttered in mock laughter “it _actually worked!”_

The HYDRA agents stayed silent throughout the Skull’s manic laughter, unsure of how to act as their test subject took an unpredicted turn. They were still mesmerised by the Phoenix’s sudden arrival. 

“Oh, my _beautiful_ Phoenix,” Red Skull started in mock bow “We did not expect you to arrive so soon. We, HYDRA, are as your humble ally, you need not worry about our loyalty as we have already taken part in your creation.” 

Phoenix stayed silent, ignoring Red Skull’s pathetic introduction as it gazed over the HYDRA medical personnel in wonder. It’s eyes eventually fixed on one specific medic and his head tilted vigorously to a side as a frown was planted upon his brow. After a long moment the Phoenix lifted a steady arm in the direction of the medic, concentration clearly pronounced across it’s glowing features. The veins in the raised arm began to pulse and surge with power significantly more than the rest of it’s body, and the targeted medic began to scream and writhe in the spot as his body was set into an unbearable licking flame. The medic fell to his knees with ungracefulness, his flesh flaking and burning away from his body with a strangled gasp. His veins pulsed with the same likeness of the Phoenix’s but it ate away at his body, tearing flesh from bone with a gut wrenching _rip,_ the ashes and bones of what remained were sent clattering down to the stone cold floor in a pile of glowing embers.

Silence engulfed the surrounding room as the Phoenix stood, it’s posture tall and proud in seeking of royal measures. The Red Skull gulped, his previous self introduction sallowed deep into the back of his throat as he witnessed the sheer power of what lay before him.

  ** _“This one was unworthy.”_** It stated simply

”unworthy?” Red Skull questioned

 ** _”Yes. Unworthy of our companionship.”_** Phoenix replied calmly **_“He has betrayed our kind before.”_**

”Betrayed for  _who_ exactly?” Red Skull growled

 ** _”SHIELD.”_** It replied **_“That man was once a proud member of SHIELD’s organisation. Betrayal on this level cannot be ignored.”_**

”Ah, I see.” Red Skull realised “You have my thanks, my Phoenix.”

The tension around the room immediately dispersed as the occupants realised that the Phoenix was not going to harm them, but only those who have been known for betrayal. The Red Skull gazed over to the lead medic and hesitantly made his way over to him.

”My Phoenix,” the Skull started “May you excuse us of our presence? We must discuss important matters.”

” **Of course**.” Phoenix smiled with a set of utterly shark-like teeth

The Skull nodded sharply once before heading out of the room’s rusting metal door, the lead HYDRA medic following closely behind him.

* * *

 

As it turns out, the Phoenix serum that HYDRA has produced especially for the use of Tony Stark, had caused the human body of Stark to give out, because of this the Phoenix entity had full control of what exactly Stark did. Originally HYDRA was planning to merge the two together, Stark having slightly more advantage over that of the Phoenix, but the Phoenix still having enough control to alter Stark’s trail of thought; therefore making him a proud agent of HYDRA with the access to powerful unearthly abilities.

“There has to be a way to Stark back!” Red Skull whined to the medic “We were going to fuse the two together to create a _better_ version of himself, not let the Phoenix take over him! At this rate, it’s going to have all of us _dead_!”

”I apologise, sir, but I did not expect this to happen either.” He replied nervously “It was an unpredictable turn of events!”

” _Unpredictable?!”_ Red Skull thundered, and the medic grimaced at the volume of his voice

”Perhaps if we were able to somehow sedate the Phoenix and infuse the final bag of the Phoenix serum, then we could move directly onto the surgery and wait for him to wake?” The medic suggested logically “The procedure will surely work if all the components are successfully applied to his body.”

”it may be the only option we have, and I doubt the Avengers will not be far behind us now. We must act quickly before our plans are ruined.” Skull added “Do you have the correct sedatives?” 

“Yes I believe that I have the correct measurements that will cause the Phoenix’s human body to unwillingly drop unconscious. The effects should last at least six hours, though we can keep him out longer if we need.” He replied 

“Good” Red Skull mused “Now get in there and get our Phoenix under control.” 

The medic nodded sharply and turned away from Red Skull, heading back to where the Phoenix was was stationed.

 

* * *

 

 The Phoenix glanced up as the medic and Red Skull re-entered the room and frowned upon the tenseness of their bodies. The two appeared more nervous than before, perhaps they were planning something. _No_. The Phoenix must not think much of the matter, it was surrounded by a new family, a new home. They promised upon it’s awakening that it was within safe surroundings. HYDRA would never think of harming it’s being, not when they have already done so much for it’s sake.

The Red Skull approached the Phoenix head on, and the lead medic quietly whispered something to the others in the room who nodded silently in response.

”My Phoenix.” Red Skull started “We have a proposition to make.”

 _ **”Do you now?”**_ It asked, glowing irises observing the Skull’s face intently

”Yes.” He replied firmly

As The Phoenix’s attention was focused on the Skull, the medical personnel attempted to make it as natural looking as possible as they made their way to the other side of the room, behind the Phoenix. They stationed themselves to the nearby torture equipment and tools, pretending to occupy themselves as the Skull made the proposition to the Phoenix. The Phoenix seemed barely phased by this matter, simply gazing over it’s shoulder at the personnel for a short amount of time before refocusing his attention on the Skull.

”As you know we are responsible for your awakening, yes?” He asked, and Phoenix nodded “Well my Phoenix, The truth is.. when we first got hold of your.. body, we did have other plans in mind.”

 **”What do you mean?”** It replied confusedly 

“The man we recovered as your body was known as Tony Stark. He is part of a group of is known as The Avengers; our most dangerous enemy.” Skull explained “When we recovered him, we had intentions of creating him into something _more_ than what he previously was. Though, with the chance of unpredictable events and your very unexpected appearance... we have had to take things a different way, if you like.”

The Phoenix did not reply, it’s celestial eyes still skimming the surface of Red Skull’s slim, skeletal features in search for an answer to his cryptic message. Confused, Phoenix took a step towards Red Skull, head tilted every so slightly as it concentrated on his features. The Skull took a tense step back in response, becoming nervous at the Phoenix’s unusually silent and observant behaviour.

 _ **”I do not understand.”**_ It stated, frowning upon the Skull’s rigid form

”I am _so_ sorry, my Phoenix.” The Skull sympathised, his head drooping from a highly held posture “But, we _need_ Stark back if we want to do this correctly, for the sake of HYDRA’s whereabouts.”

The Phoenix’s eyes widened in sudden realisation of what the Skull was trying to imply, and an instinctive step back was made as it began to shake it’s head in shock and disbelief. In the same instance, the medical team sprung into action as fast as lightning. They pounced onto the Phoenix’s form, tightly gripping at it’s limbs, struggling to hold it down as they wrestled with it’s power induced body. Phoenix growled deeply, eyes focussing on the medics to the left of it, and in a sudden three of the personnel were screaming as their bodies set alight in a cacophonous state of chaos. They stumbled back from The Phoenix’s form in union, clawing at their faces in agony as flesh turned to dust and muscle was burnt to the stake.

The Red Skull took a sharp intake of breath as he stepped back, his eyes widening as the Phoenix’s irises quickly made their way back to him. Red blazing fury fixed onto his form in utter concentration as the remaining medics struggled to it down, yelling urgent commands that were purged with panic. Phoenix sneered as he threw the remaining medics off of him as if they were toy soldiers, and watched gracefully as their bodies rag-dolled into the solid walls of the chamber around it. Phoenix strode forwards, grabbing the Red Skull sharply by the neck as it did, lifting him off of the ground and high into the concentrated air, choking the life from him without question.

 _ **”Traitors.”** _It spat **_“You should know better than attempting to fool me.”_**

In an instant, the lead medic sprung up unexpectedly behind the Phoenix, a syringe in hand. The syringe was filled with an unpleasant looking purple liquid that had a chemical glow to it. The medic stumbled forwards, plunging the long, sharp needle into the Phoenix’s tense back, causing the Red Skull to go crashing down from it’s grip. The Skull plummeted to the ground, grabbing at his neck in a series of greedy gasps for air. The Phoenix unnaturally stilled as the mixture was slowly injected into it’s system and a sudden overwhelming sense of _calm_ began to overflow it’s human body.  It’s eyes rolled into the back of it’s head, and with a lack of grace, it’s body fell to ground with a sickly _thud_ as it fell into a deep unconsciousness.

The survivors of the Phoenix’s outburst stood, observing the damage that the entity had managed to create in a matter of seconds. The Red Skull looked down on Stark’s limp and overly still form, a look of annoyance slipping over his features.

”We will have you this time, _Stark_.” He muttered under his breath

”Sir, what do we do now?” One of the remaining medics asked

”We do what we were planning to do.” Skull replied distantly “Make Stark something _more,_ for HYDRA’s good.”

The surroundings occupants of the room stood in a circular ring around the limp form on the tiled flooring, gazing down in a menacing silence.

”I want the final dosage of Phoenix Serum successfully infused to his bloodstream by tomorrow. In the meantime, get him prepped for the surgery. This is the only chance we have of successfully fusing the Phoenix our famed genius.” Red Skull commanded after a moment, the medics nodded in response, bustling around the subject in preparation for the final, stage of the body’s transformation.

 

 

**_ To Be Continued... _ **


	5. A New Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony wakes up in HYDRA’s base and discoverers something that will change his life as a hero, forever.

 

The first thing Tony felt when he came to, was the instant plummet of consciousness puncturing the thick blanket of his unconscious state with rays of intense sensations. He groaned at the ache in his head, his eyes squeezing tightly shut in his best attempt to rid of it. He strained his hands into fists, feeling the stiffness of his joints as he waked. He felt _so_ _numb_. Tony could feel a cold metal pressing up against his wrists and ankles that were positioned slightly away from his body; _restraints,_  he concluded. His head lolled forwards against his bare chest as he fought the urge to sink back into the darkness. He could recognise the sensation movement and sound around him, but he couldn’t see through the blur that masked his eyesight, and everything seemed so.. _distant_. That’s when he began to panic.

”w.. have...... win-s.. successfully” Tony strained to hear “He.....be wakin-..up......s-“

 _‘Waking up?’_ Tony couldn’t comprehend what was happening, the last thing he could remember was Red Skull towering over him and then, the overpowering sensations of _rage_.. and then- _darkness_ , absolutely _nothing_. He felt the panic flowing over him in waves, so many unanswered questions flowing through his mind. _What happened to him? Was he injured? Were they attacked?_

“Everyone.....cautious...don’t..know what he...capable of..... he wakes” a voice continued as it became clearer for Tony to understand.

Tony didn’t even notice when the voices began to fade, his mind slipping back into the deep, unending darkness. His body slowly relaxed from it’s panic induced state, the sensation of numbness sinking into the back of his concerned brain as his breathing slowed as his body rested.

 

* * *

  

The next time he slipped out of unconsciousness, the room around him was silent and dim, unnervingly silent in fact. But he felt more _alive_ than before.

He gently pried his eyes open, struggling when the full force of unconsciousness threatened to take him back into the thick dark. His eyes drooped back shut for a moment before reopening, and his head fell to the side as he returned to his full awareness. His throat made a pained noise and his brow pinched in a grimace as a sudden and harsh ache was present in his back. It rippled down through his body like electricity, pulsing directly from his shoulder blades and reverberating down his spine. His body visibly tensed and went rigid at the pain, his muscles straining against the horizontal surface that he was fixed upon, his face expressing his uncomfortable state.

”Ah, Phoenix! You have finally woken!” A voice bellowed from out of Tony’s line of sight, he flinched from it’s sudden volume, his body jerking without warning in the restraints.

Ungracefully lifting his head up and to the left, Tony managed to catch sight of Red Skull sitting on a chair to spine side of the room, he grunted in response, letting out an audible sigh as he let his head flop back down to the bed.

” _Stark_.” Red Skull started, earning Tony’s attention “You will be pleased to know that your surgery has been complete, and all of the Phoenix Serum has been successfully infused.”

”S-Surgery??” He rasped back, voice barely a whisper

”I thought we talked about this matter before, no?” Skull asked “Anyways, you should be well on your way in the next month or two, as you will need time to come to your bearings, of course.”

Tony frowned as the Skull stood from the chair and slowly approached his left side, but his eyes were not focussed upon him, they were gazing elsewhere, something that he couldn’t see hat was located down by where he was stationed.

With a black gloved hand, the Skull reached out to where his eyes were focussed upon, and-

Tony flinched violently at the sense of touch. A sense of touch that most certainly should _not_ be there. But the touch was gentle, matched with the way in which Red Skull’s hand was gently stroking down an unseen component of what he presumed was _his body._ Tony’s breath hitched when the gloved hand moved up and over the unseen appendages, a peculiar feeling of something moved out of place before being repositioned and laid back down where it should be, rippling through his shoulder blades. He shivered intently, curiosity and confusion clouding over his previous panic.

Tony strained against the restraints, pulling his body up as far as he could to peer over to where the sensation could be felt. He propped himself up, turning his head towards the Skull and instantly stiffening at what he saw as he looked downwards. He took a sharp intake of breath, realisation setting in.

The Skull looked back up to his face from the appendages, observing his reaction and smiling fondly as Tony stared back vacantly; deep in thought.

”I told you that you would rise, Phoenix.” He mused “Didn’t I not?”

Red Skull smirked slightly when he got no response.

”I promised you that we would make you something _more_ , something _better_.” He explained “And.. we did. Magnificent, isn’t it? Here, why don’t we give you a better look at what we have improved for you?”

The Skull stepped away from his position next to the genius, moving towards the restraints and unbuckling them now that he had deemed it safe to do so. Once the sixth and final restraint was released, Skull helped the man up from his place on the bed, offering a hand for support.

Tony-  _no_.  _Phoenix_ accepted the support, grabbing the gloved hand and using it as leverage for him to get up relative ease.

Phoenix liked the name that Red Skull gave him, it just felt _belonging to him._ It seemed fitting for what was going to be a new life for him, but he also knew that he should kindly take what HYDRA, his new family, offers him, or he knew it would end in another session of horrendous torture, and Phoenix also knows that if they were to torture him, it means that he has failed his family, his _legacy_. Nobody wants to fail their superiors, do they?

Phoenix watched silently as Red Skull moved to unveil a large mirror at the side of the room that had been previously hidden by a drape of dark material. Skull pulled the mirror forwards after pulling off the material and dropping it carelessly to the floor. He repositioning the mirror lengthways and directly in front of Phoenix so that he could see the _improvements_ that they had made for him.

Phoenix gasped. He stared, bewildered. He looked the same, and yet so _different_.

His hair was pitch black, and longer, strands of it stood up tall on his head, messy and unkept. His skin was a pasty white, lacking in colour from what it usually did, red tinged scars of torn tissue littering his features. They were short but deep; one parted his signature goatee which still was proudly presented upon his face, his upper and lower lip dawning a menacing but rigid dip between them. More scars were scattered across his cheeks, some skating across his brow and down from his eyes. But even more alarming was the mass of scarred tissue located on the right side of his head, just by his hairline. A mass of ragged and torn skin, discoloured and uneven, intertwined with bruises and slashes that cascaded further down his face. The glass that he landed on was the most likely cause of his disfigurements. His overall body seemed slimmer than usual and significantly more muscular.

Phoenix noticed how his irises appeared to be glowing a deep red, a red that was swirling with orange and yellow fury. His veins were too this colour, fainter than his irises, but ever so slightly highlighted from the rest of his body. The veins around his eyes and down his neck and arms were arranged in jagged patterns that somewhat resembled that of a lightning bolt, bold and unique. He looked down at his hands in amazement as the colour pulsed and thrived through them at a more intense rate when he clenched his fists. The arc reactor still shone brightly from its position in his chest, expect it now was glowing with the same likeness of his irises; filled with a swirling fiery mass of _power_. The light casted menacing red flickering highlights over his more defined features within the darkened atmosphere of the room.

Aside from these changes, Tony was still bewildered by what lay upon his back:

Two large, identical _wings_. They had given him _wings_.

Phoenix stared at the large appendages on his back. The wings were levelled just above his shoulders and were curled neatly up against his body. They cascaded down the length of his body, covered in deep black feathers that trailed lightly on the tiled floor. The feathers, although were a deep, beautiful midnight black, had hints of red and orange speckled across their entire frame, speckles that gradually got more dense in number near to the base of the wings. He turned his body to the side, peering over his shoulder at where the wings had been installed. His back was a mess; large stitched up scars were visible in between the seems of his own back and the wings, the scars travelled further down his body, stretching out in long deformed lines. By the looks of things, they clearly had some difficulty with successfully installing them.

Phoenix cocked his head to a side in curiosity, flexing the muscles in his wings, feeling the unusual sensation within them as they moved. He stretched the right wing out and peered over to it, the feathers were beautifully arranged, smoothed out and tidy. The overall wingspan of one wing appeared to be roughly around eight meters, meaning that he had a pretty extraordinary total wingspan of sixteen meters, he would definitely be able to fly with those. 

After being satisfied with his self examination, Phoenix lifted his gaze back up to Red Skull, who was staring straight back at him, a smile of pleasure present upon his skeletal face.

”I- Thank-you.. I don’t know what to say..” Phoenix stuttered, appearing lost for words

”You need not thank me, Phoenix” Skull mused “HYDRA are always willing to do what’s best for their most important members.”

Phoenix nodded slightly in response, watching as the Skull moved forwards from the mirror.

”So.. what now?” He asked after a short silence 

“You will train, of course. And heal, those wings of yours have just been applied, they need time to strengthen.” Red Skull replied “We want you to be prepared for your encounters with the Avengers, when the time comes.”

Phoenix tensed and stilled as soon as the Avengers’s were mentioned and took in a harsh breath, his eyes narrowing and flashing with a dangerous blood red fury. His muscles were stiff and strained as veins pulsed and began to glow with power beyond imagination. His wings splayed out in instinct, making him appear larger and even more dangerous. Black feathers flared out as they rose threateningly, engulfing in a fiery aurora of blazing chaos, burning with immense heat. The heat was so intense that Red Skull was forced to take a large step back in fear of himself being burnt to smithereens.

” _The Avengers will **pay** for what they did to me.” _He sneered darkly, as a menacing shadow was cast over his blazing irises

”Yes.. Yes.. they will, my Phoenix.” Red Skull laughed breathlessly “But it will take time. Calm yourself, we must begin your training immediately.”

Gradually, the blazing fury died down, and Phoenix’s wings returned to their usual midnight black, veins faded into his pale skin and his irises’ glow darkened. He hesitantly lowered his wings, still heaving in oxygen from his sudden outburst. His eyes skated anywhere but at the Skull, the confusion clear in his expression for _why_ he reacted to that extent. Once he seemed calm enough, and his breathing had returned to relatively normal pace, he looked up to the Skull again, taking in the proud look upon his face.

”Shall we?” Skull asked politely as he opened the rusted metal door to the small room, he held it open wide enough for Phoenix to slip through and gestured for him to go ahead.

 

* * *

  

The corridors were packed with bustling HYDRA agents, it seemed although their work was endless. Some stopped briefly to look at Phoenix in shock, craning their necks as he passed to make sure that what they were seeing was not part of their imagination. Phoenix dismissed them as he followed Red Skull, refusing to glance in their directions. He _couldn’t_ risk another outburst, he didn’t want to harm his faithful family. Although he tried to ignore them, he could still hear the hushed whispers of them as he passed, he brushed them off, trying his best to rid the attention that his past life would have loved.

Red Skull lead him to a large set of double doors in the corridor, and gestured to him proudly to go fourth. He looked up to the large label to the left of the door; ‘ _Project Dark-Flame I’_ it read, and he frowned. Phoenix glanced back at the Skull and hesitantly walked up to the door. The doors opened automatically, revealing a larger unlit room that was purged in dark shadows. Phoenix walked further into the room, and the sound of a generator firing up could be heard as dull lights flickered on.

The room was again unfurnished with white crumbling walls and a dull grey tiled floor. Phoenix looked around in confusion as he entered, the only visible component to the room was the large rectangular box which stood tall along the back wall, directly opposite the doors. The box was metallic in colour and consisted of various technological components; lights flashed on a panel of the box, indicating it’s activity. Large pipes were attached from the right hand side of the box, they flowed up to the top and were securely attached, they were most likely providing some sort of ventilation to whatever was inside of the box.

Red Skull strode up beside Phoenix’s side and the doors gingerly slide shut behind them. 

“I have something for you, my Phoenix.” Skull started, looking over to his creation “It will fit your needs greatly.”

Red Skull smirked and he sauntered forwards to the box in the centre of the room. He tapped the panel on the left of the box, and a holographic keypad popped up from it’s display. He then entered a long passcode and watched as the lights flashed green. The box began to hiss as locks popped open and the air compressed to it’s outer surroundings. The doors slowly swung open to reveal a bright lit interior.

Phoenix stepped forwards and took his gaze from Red Skull over to the opening box. His wings fluttered with content as he got a glimpse of a black glint of metal from within. He gasped once the box had fully opened up.

”I had my engineers remodel one of _Stark’s_ armours from his workshop, for your purpose only, of course.” Skull explained “The technology had been advanced to fit your new abilities, you should be able to us them from within the armour.”

Phoenix was well and truly _speechless_. He stared at the black and blood red terror that lay before him, shimmering with it’s full metal glory. The suit was sleek and thin, unlike _Stark’s_ previous armours, it had slim metal panels that made up of it’s structure. The gauntlets were similar to that of Iron Man’s but lacked the repulsors that were usually located in the centre of the palms. The boots were slick and neatly created, pointed at the toe. In the centre of the chest was a large familiar circle, protected with re-enforced glass that displayed a glowing red and orange swirling glory. The shoulder pads of the armour were slightly more bulky, and flicked upwards into sharp points. At the top of the armour, was a helmet unlike what he had seen before. It was slim, like the rest of the suit, slimmed at the front in the form of a bird’s red, jagged beak. There were narrowly angled slits at each side of the beak that resembled eyes, the tips of the eyes flowed upwards into a clean point. They flowed with a deep piercing red. The back of the helmet was smooth and was pointed upwards that somewhat resembled mechanical looking feathers. Swirls of blood red was arranged across the entirety of the suit, contrasting with the black and creating a very menacing appearance.

”We removed any previously installed weaponry, with your new abilities you will no longer need that of what Stark did.” Skull continued “Though there are still foot repulsors and stabilisers in case of emergency. It was difficult to install the stabilisers, obviously because of your wings, but we found a way around it, look here.”

Red Skull pushed a button in the interior of the suit’s casing, and it slowly rotated to show off the back of it’s structure. Two large slits were present in the armour’s back that were clearly meant for Phoenix's wings, in between and to the sides of them he could see the stabiliser flaps that were camouflaged into the armour’s outer layer. 

“Can I try it?” Phoenix asked distantly as he gazed over the armour’s components

”Of course. Though first we need to install these small chips into your forearms, they will allow you to call the armour at will, and it will come to you upon your own demand.” Skull answered, reaching for a small injector gun that was hung to the side of the suit.

He armed the gun with the microscopic chips and took hold of Phoenix’s left forearm at will. He pushed the gun up to the skin and pulled the trigger. Phoenix jumped away from the Skull’s grip as he felt the chip pushing their way through his skin and securely into his arm. A small spec of glowing red blood began to seep through the pinprick of a wound that it caused. Skull then silently moved onto his right arm and proceeded to go ahead with the same process; arming the gun and injecting the chip. 

Once finished, Phoenix rubbed at his arms, peering down on the places that the chips were injected.

”Now then” Skull started, gaining back Phoenix’s attention “To call the armour, you will need to use the chips. All you need to do is raise your arms and call out to it through your mind. If you do it correctly, the armour should activate and respond to your command.”

Phoenix looked at the Skull for a moment, as if contemplating his options. He then hesitantly raised his arms and focused upon the armour that stood still in front of him. He screamed within his head for it to respond, for it to come running to his aid. But nothing happened. So he let his hands lower slightly, his wings flopping down in annoyance. But he did not give up, not yet, not when he had come this far. So he raised his hands again, pointing them towards the suit and _commanding_ it to come to him. His fingers grasped against the thin air with _need_ , and his face contorted in a deep grimace of concentration.

There was a faint whirring as the armour came to life, and it’s frame jerked slightly, head turning towards Phoenix as it analysed his form. The suit then made a sudden move, it opened up with various clicks, clanks and whirs, separating into smaller sections and rocketing towards it’s pilot in a flurry of smoke. Bit by bit, the armour assembled itself upon Phoenix’s body, the sections clicked back together with ease, the back piece forming perfectly around the positioning of the base of his wings, and the helmet fitting perfectly over his head.

The armour felt _great_. It was strangely comfortable, comfortable enough that it felt natural. It wasn’t to small or large on any part of his body, it had been perfectly manufactured to fit his frame, and his frame only. Phoenix stood in full armour in the centre of the room, his wings sprouting proudly from the back of the suit, the feathers cascading down to cold floor. He looked down to his armoured body, inspecting how easy it was to move within it.

”You look magnificent, Phoenix.” Skull mused from the side of the room “I don’t think it will be long until you are able to get your revenge. Not long at all.”

 

 

**_ To Be Continued... _ **


	6. A Time Of Mourning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a long five months of failed rescue attempts, the Avengers decide that there is nothing more they can do to find their famed genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist who mysteriously disappeared from his workshop.

 

The Avengers returned to Avengers Tower in a quinjet, in silence.

Today marked the day of five months from Tony Stark’s capture, and with over fifteen failed rescue missions and HYDRA base infiltrations, they still hadn’t found him. There were zero leads, zero clues, _zero recollection_ of what could have happened, where they could have taken him and what they did to him. Although they knew from the recovered CCTV footage that he was taken by Red Skull, they still had no idea of how they managed to get their hands in him so easily, or where they took him. He was most likely being held in a HYDRA base that had not yet been located, all of the known larger bases that the Red Skull was likely to be stationed at were searched, that always resulted in the depreciating hope of the Avengers of finding Stark.

When they returned safely to the Tower it was beginning to get dark. They exited the Quinjet in union as the sunset lowered, faces solemn and grim, emphasising their lack of luck in their searches. 

After entering the tower, they followed one another to the communal floor only to be met by a very distraught Pepper Potts, and James Rhodes. Pepper had red raw streaks of recently shed tears channeling down her cheeks, her eyes were puffed up and bloodshot and her mouth was quivering with barely hidden grief. Rhodes stood closely behind her, his face grim and mournful of the loss of his best friend.

The Avengers alone entering the communal floor was enough to send Miss. Potts into another fit of hysterical sobbing. She swivelled around on the balls of her feet, burying her head into Rhodes’s stiff shoulder. He offered some comfort to her by enveloping her in his arms as he gaze on to the entering Avengers, a frown planted upon his brow.

”nothing. Absolutely _nothing!”_ Clint sneered, kicking over a nearby stool “None of us makes any sense!”

”Clint...” Bruce warned, shaking his head

”There has to be something we can go from. How could they have just _disappeared?!”_ He continued as he ignored Bruce’s attempts to stop his outrage

”I fear it is too late, Friend Barton.” Thor sympathised

”Thor’s right. With no evidence, there’s very little we can do to find him, that’s if he’s even still alive.” Natasha stated solemnly

 “I’m presuming that you’ve not found him then.” Rhodes asked from where he was still cradling a distraught Pepper

”Yeah, no _shit_ Sherlock.” Clint growled in response

”Hey, that’s enough.” Steve interrupted “We don’t need to fall out over this. It’s a situation that been taken out of our hands, if we ever want to find Stark, we are purely relying on any information that comes from SHIELD. There’s nothing we can do about it. We are just going to have to sit tight and hope for the answers to show up.”

”But it’s already been _five_ _months._ And we don’t even know where he is, h-he could be halfway across the globe- _oh god.”_ Pepper replied to Steve’s lecture, lifting her head to face the team for the first time.

She stumbled away from Rhodes’ grasp and stood firmly in front of the rest of the team, tears still brimming in her emotion-filled eyes.

“Hey, Hey, Pepper, it’s okay. Everything is going to be fine, I promise.” Rhodes comforted, attempting to reach out to Pepper’s shoulder, but she pulled away sharply.

”But we don’t know that.” She replied between sobs “James, even you know that when he went missing in Afghanistan, we had a good idea of where he was. With no trace of where he went... h-how are meant to ever find him?”

” _Miss. Potts_.” Steve Interjected “I promise you that we will do everything in our power to find Tony. We already have. But I need you to stay strong for him. And I’m sure that Tony would have put up a hell of a fight towards his captors, he always does. In the time that he has been missing, you have already out up a hell of a fight yourself, but if there is a chance to save him? He will need you. He will need _us_. We can’t just give up now.”

Steve’s wise words gained a watery smile from Pepper, though she did not reply. She turned away from the the room and headed out towards the elevator, only her heavy breathing and the clicking of her stilettos upon the marble flooring audible in the silence that she left behind.

Once the door shut, Steve turned to Rhodes.

”We successfully infiltrated that base, though little evidence of Stark was found.” he sighed, taking a heavy hand down the length of his face.

”None of the personnel seemed to know anything about Tony’s capture.” Bruce added

”I managed to get into their computer database in the main control room.” Natasha stated “Though there no files what so ever on Stark. The only thing I found that involved him was the files that the had collected on the Avengers; abilities, weaknesses, and the best ways to approach us when in combat. Though, there was absolutely nothing on Stark. Like Clint said before, none of this makes any sense.”

”If they had captured Stark, there would have to be some sort of file on him.” Steve added “HYDRA are known to record all of their information on their captives. But why was nothing taken on Stark?”

”Maybe only a certain section of HYDRA was in on this?” Bruce suggested “Including Red Skull.”

”It would make sense. If HYDRA have no information on Friend Stark’s capture, there must be some sort of secret organisation within that has taken out a plan of action.” Thor summarised

”Exactly.” Bruce replied

In the same instance, the doors to the elevator opened again, and Pepper Potts came striding out with a concerned look plastered on her face amongst the now fainter tear marks and bloodshot eyes.

”I think you will all want to see this.” She started as she stormed back into the communal floor

”What is it?” Rhodes asked

Pepper did not reply. She simply reached down to the TV remote that lay on the large sofa in the centre of the room and pointed it up to the TV, pressing the ‘on’ button in the process. The TV flashed to life, a news channel brightly on display.

”...And here we have some live images of the reported attack on the west of New York...” A news reporter’s voice sounded throughout the room “...It appears that New York has a new super villain, holy Christ! Just look at the destruction! Look at him go! Now, it looks although the majority of the civilians have been safely evacuated, but the biggest question is, where are the Avengers? It looks like the police forces are struggling greatly to stop this.. this _Phoenix!...”_

The footage of the scene in western New York showed the chaos and destruction caused by a shimmering black silhouette surrounded in a fiery blazing aurora. The silhouette had blazing red eyes that sat firmly to either side of what resembled a bird’s beak. A red glowing circle was clearly visible in the middle of it’s chest, and it eerily resembled Stark’s arc reactor. Most alarmingly, mounted upon the back of the figure was a set of wings engulfed in a blazing fury of fire and chaos.

The surrounding area was purged into chaos; buildings could be seen crumbling and collapsing in on themselves like paper burning in a blaze, cars were engulfed in fireballs, only their molten frames remaining. The 'Phoenix', as they called him, stood in the wake of the destruction, peering mercilessly around for his next victim, his flaming aurora of what resembled a phoenix's wings flapping behind him, keeping him elevated from the ground. 

In a sudden, the Phoenix's eyes locked directly onto the news camera in a threatingly deep glare. In a swoop of fire engulphed wings, Phoenix pluged down onto the camera, knocking it to the ground in the process. The bloodcurdlingly strangled screams of the cameramen and crew could be heard off screen as the Phoenix devoured their bodies with a fiery fury and converted their flesh to ashes among bones. The camera shook as it was roughly ripped up from it's stand and the Phoenix's face came into full view, it was the stuff of nightmares. Reflecting in the darkening surroundings and casting a menacingly evil glare.

 _"Avengers."_ a deeply modulated voice growled through the camera static 

That definately got everyone's attention on the communal floor.

 "...have we got any way to stop this?... _You need to get it off, now_!!.." the reporters frantic voice could be heard from the news studio

" _Beautiful isn't it? The destruction. Makes a change from your usual criminals, eh?_ "  Phoenix continued before erupting into terrifying laughter " _You have twenty minutes, Avengers. Make an apperence or I will blow New York to the depths of **Hell**."_

With that, the camera was dropped and the Pheonix could be seen cocking his head down upon it. If they could see his face, there would be no doubt that he would be smiling. With a flurry of fire engulphed fury, Pheonix was lifting off the ground, and soaring out from the camera's field of view. More explosions and screams could be heard from those still in the area before the screen cut back to the news studio with the face of a very distraught reporter.

 Pepper then pointed the TV remote up once again and proceeded to turn the volume down.

"So we have mutant supervillains on our tail now?" Clint mused "Thats just fantastic."

"Im not sure if it's a mutant." Bruce stated "Wouldn't the X-men be on the scene if it was?"

"You have a good point, Friend Banne-" Thor replied

"Well excuse me," Clint interrupted "But if that _isnt_ a mutant, then why the hell does it have fire engulphed _wings_ on it's _back!?!"_

"Thats enough already!" Steve started, silencing the previous argumentative attitudes "You heard what he said; twenty minutes or New York goes up in flames. We better get down there fast, it didnt look like the services already there were handling things that well."

The Avengers looked at Steve in realisation. This wasnt just a threat to the Avengers, it was a threat to people uninvolved with them, and that could cause devistation to many people around the world.

"Rhodes, do you think you'll be able to help us on this?" Steve added "We're gonna need all the help that we can get."

"I'll do all i can." He replied simply

"Alright, everyone get suited up as quickly as possible! Were going to take this guy down." Steve announced

The Avengers fled from the room, getting all of their gear and weaponry together for a fight that cost the lives of many.

 

_**To Be Continued...** _


	7. Of Fire Engulfed Chaos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers arrive on the scene of the attack. It is soon revealed that they are involved in a more dangerous situation than before.

When the Avengers arrived at the scene of destruction, it was well into the night. Darkness was cast over New York, a bright blazing fury eating away at it from the location they were headed to. They got a good look at what they were going to be heading into.

The street was a mess. The worst they had seen since the Battle Of New York back in 2012. 

From what they could see in the dark, tarmac was upturned, bubbling with the application of immense heat, the remains of burnt up cars had sunken into the bog and sizzled with anguish. Street lamps were bent and snapped, loose wires sparking with electricity that fell ruthlessly to the ground. Buildings were collapsing, burning like paper against a match, crumbling in on themselves and into no more than rubble and ashes. Smoke bellowed upward from the mass of destruction, creating a swirling cloud of gloom and chaos above the scene. Vehicles were carelessly scattered over the molten road, their doors left handing open and torn from the hinges, insides engulfed in a fireball of blazing fury. Only their flimsy metal frames remained amongst the midst of chaos itself. A large lorry was splayed across the length of the road, it’s front plunged through the wall of a building, it’s length blocking off the entirety of the chaos induced street.

The Quinjet, which was piloted by Clint, circled around the area, allowing them to get a good look at the situation before gently dropping down to a nearby open area which was clear of the destruction. The door lowered with a mechanical whir before coming to a stop and the engines of the jet died down.

”Banner, stay stationed in the Quinjet.” Captain America commanded “Monitor the situation through surveillance and the comms, we’ll let you know if things get out of hand.”

Bruce nodded sharply in response before turning back to the computer system on board the Quinjet.

Rhodes had accompanied the Avengers in the mission. He wore his War Machine armour with pride as he waited for the potential battle ahead. The armour could be very helpful in the battlefield, mainly because of it’s likeness to Stark’s Iron Man armour. They both have some pretty heavy fire power at hand which could be usefull for this sort of hostility.

The Avengers cautiously made their way out of the jet. Captain America griped his shield tightly, Thor wielded Mjölnir with a strong hand, Hawkeye drew his Bow tensely, Black Widow readied her Widow Bites steadily, and War Machine held his weaponry cautiously. Each were ready for what was to come, or so they thought. They broke off into a run, making their way as quickly as possible to the scene when it was clear that nobody had followed the jet to the chosen landing zone.

As they approached the scene, the severity of the situation became even more apparent. Ashes and bones were scattered around the area, mixed amongst the turmoil that the Pheonix had caused. Burnt up remains of those who were not able to get to safety in time were still straped into the molten vehciles littering the floor. Bodies riddled with burnt flesh and muscle were scattered on the floor, silent and unmoving, their attempts at escape clear from their positioning. They clawed motionlessly at the tarmac with their nails, screaming in a long forgotten pain. The fatality count on this one was definately going to be high, which was somewhat understandable because the attack was unaccounted for. It happened to fast, people were barely given a chance to get to safety, especially with the abilities of the hostile.

The team approached the centre of the mass of destruction, weapons raised in cautiousness, observing the horrifying result of the being's relentless rage. At first there was no sign of the Phoenix, only the uncomfortable silence of the Avengers amongst the burning destruction was audible. They looked around, confused at the absence of the Phoenix.

"Where the hell is the guy?" Hawkeye muttered, bow still drawn sharply

”Not here.” Black Widow responded

”Stay sharp, spread out, but be careful, it could be a trap.” Captain America warned

The team spread out around the darkened area, making sure that they were all within one another’s line of sight. They searched the area for any signs of the Phoenix when a sudden harsh _flap_ of wings against air could be heard, though nothing was visible.

Everyone froze, eyes skittering across the skyline for any signs of a black clad Phoenix.

The Phoenix emerged from around the corner of a crumbling building. Black feathered wings were beating furiously against the air, keeping him up of the ground and blowing the surrounding dirt from the ground in a outrageous hurricane of dust and muck. His midnight black and blood red streaked armour glimmered in the moonlight as red slit eyes glared down upon his rivals. He swooped down with intense speed, coming to a stop as his boots gently touched upon the crashed lorry with a graceful _clank_. He stood tall; head held high, wings outstretched, posture suggesting no more than a proud confidence.

It was one hell of an entrance.

All weapons were aimed on him.

” _Avengers_.” Phoenix started, his deep, modulated voice was enough give anyone the chills

”What is your business here?” Thor boomed before Phoenix could continue, and he audibly sighed “What is you name?”

” _I am Phoenix_.” He introduced with a mock bow

”Yeah, yeah.. whatever, why the hell did you destroy half of New York just to get our attention?” Hawkeye snarked “You could’ve just knocked on our door like a normal person.”

” _I am not any normal person.”_ Phoenix stated “ _I have been gifted greatly.”_

“By who exactly?” Captain America asked

” _Red Skull.”_ He replied with a content flutter of his wings

There was a tense silence. 

“Cap, I don’t like the sound of this...” Bruce voiced through the comms

”Stay where you are Banner, we’ve got this under control.” Black Widow interrupted

”Guys, the readings I’ve taken on him show that he’s emitting high levels of heat radiation.” Bruce announced

”Yeah, I’m getting that through the suit’s systems as well.” Rhodes confirmed 

“If this guy lashes out at you, he’ll have all blown to smithereens within a matter of seconds! Just look at what he did to the street! _The civilians_!” Bruce urgently exclaimed, his voice raising in volume

“Bruce, we have this under control!” Black Widow said agitatedly “Stay where you are!”

”Stand down Bruce,” Captain America added “If things get out of control, that’s when we’ll need Hulk.”

Right now, Bruce thought they needed Doctor Banner.

 

* * *

 

 

Back in the Quinjet, Bruce was intently analysing the footage from the scene and comms line. He was taking out tests on the mutated individual only to be extremely shocked at what he found. 

The individual appeared to be emitting a dangerously high amount of heat radiation. That would explain how he managed to cause that much destruction to the surround area. However, whether the individual was someone with the enhanced x-gene or some sort of genetically engineered enhancement was still to be discovered. To take out these sort of tests, Bruce would need some DNA from the individual, and it didn’t look like they were going to be getting that any time soon.

What confused Bruce the most was the fact that, if this individual was a mutant, the X-men had not made an appearance. They had the world’s most powerful telepath on their side, if there was a dangerous mutant scouring around New York, there is no doubt that Professor Xavier would know. This fact could potentially rule out that Phoenix, as he calls himself, is a x-gene enhanced mutant.

As Bruce continued to take out numerous tests on the footage of the individual, he came across something quite alarming. In the centre of the Phoenix’s chest there was a glowing red circle of red pooling light. Upon closer inspection, the red circle consisted of an almost _too similar_ energy signature to Tony’s arc reactor. But how could they have taken his technology? The arc reactor, in combination to the rest of the Phoenix’s armour, created a vague image of Iron Man’s armour (minus the wings and bird beak).

 

* * *

 

“Guys, this is serious, Phoenix has _Tony’s technology!”_ Bruce yelled over the comms “That circle in his chest? It’s an arc reactor, it’s powering his suit!” 

He got no response.

 _”- and Red Skull brings your condolences for Stark.”_ Phoenix spat, the words sounded like they were gouged in venom

There was an uproar from the Avengers in the team, various shouts and cries that were directed towards Phoenix could be heard by Bruce over the comms, enough that he had to turn down the volume.

”What did you do to him!?”

”Where is Friend Stark!?”

”Where is he, you son of a bitch?!”

”Where’s Red Skull?!”

”Where’s Stark!?”

“I’ll _kill_ you!!”

”Tell Us!!”

Phoenix stood, silent and tall upon the lorry trailer as the _Avengers_ continuously yelled at him. Criticising him, threatening him and most of all _hating him._  His wings rose up and feathers splayed threateningly as his temper shortened.

 _ **”SILENCE.”** _He hissed, wings engulfing in a mass of flame and burning fury, his posture was hunched, his shoulders heaving as he breathed vigorously and his fists clenched. The red patterns in his armour began to glow a blinding red, entwined with flicks of swirling yellow and orange as his eyes flashed in the dark with a sudden surge of power.

The intense volume of heat from the burning fury was enough to cause all of the Avengers to take an instinctive step back, struck into a state of shocked silence.

 _ **” Stark was a fool to think that the Avengers would ever come for him.” **_ Phoenix thundered, his wings still burning furiously upon his back

His burning wings outstretched with such force, that it was enough to lift him from the ground. With a tremendous swoop he landed with a _thump_ on the scorched ground before the Avengers, showing off his threatening height in warning of staying back. His wings were now burning so intently that small fragments of glowing orange embers were beginning flake softly to the ground, littering the area in a glowing mania.

**_“Red Skull has given me the permission I needed to blow you all to hell. And I will not hesitate to do it.”_ **

And with that, Phoenix swooped up into the air, straining his hands as they began to glow, igniting a blazing wall of flame around the area that prevented his enemies from leaving.

”He’s cornering us like sheep!” Hawkeye yelled over the uproar of flame

”Everyone get to cover, we can’t stay in open land, he’ll burn us to ashes!” Captain America dictated

The team scattered, scavenging for cover that would definitely come in handy. But the Phoenix was fast, faster that they could imagine. He swooped down from the clouds at lightning speed, conjuring up a blade of pure flame on his right arm. He sky-rocketed down directly above War Machine, raising the blade and striking the end of his mounted machine gun. The gun sizzled, it’s end snapping clean off as the rest of the barrel melted and sealed shut. War Machine turned, sending a missile up towards Phoenix, it barged up to his armour, exploding on impact and caused Phoenix to stagger back in the air, only to regain his composure and appear even _more_ infuriated. War Machine then made a run for a nearby vehicle, activating his hand and foot stabilisers to boost his speed. He crouched behind the vehicle’s frame, narrowly avoiding another of Phoenix’s attacks.

Phoenix growled, his armoured gauntlets heating up to a glowing orange.

The Avengers peered from over their cover, watching Phoenix intently for his next move.

”Guys you _have_ to get out of there!” Bruce yelled 

“Yeah, we know, but we’ve got a bit of a fiery situation here!” War Machine yelled back

”We may have to knock this Phoenix unconscious, it’s the only way of defeating him non-fatally!” Thor boomed from over the battlefield

”Don’t you think that we should be thinking about fatal options here!? The guy’s a lunatic!” Hawkeye screeched

”I need to do tests on this guy, we need to know how to prevent this sort of attack in the future!” Bruce bellowed “And he says he knows _Red Skull_ , he might be able to help us find Tony!”

”Oh great, so we’re going to have a maniacal pet Phoenix now!?” Clint squawked “Are we going to keep him in the basement and feed him twice a day as well?!”

The team threw attacks at Phoenix who was hovering above the ground behind their cover. Thor sent bolts of lightning directly at him, Captain America hurled his shield, Black Widow fired her pistols, Hawkeye fired his arrows and War Machine activated his rapid fire and repulsor weapons. But the Phoenix simply hovered upon the attacks, still and unmoving, one hand firmly raised ahead of his body, a fiery shield forming in front if him. The combination of attacks were blocked with ease by Phoenix, leaving the Avengers clueless of what to do to stop him.

The Phoenix splayed his hands out against the air, fingers straining against the air. Flames exploded from his fingertips, roaring like a stampede of lions, licking at the oxygen with a threateningly hot temperature. The flame spiralled out towards the Avengers, narrowly cutting the space above their heads as they attempted to dodge out of the way. Hawkeye yelped, gripping his arm, when a tendril of flame licked out at him, stinging the surface of his skin.

”You alright?” Black Widow questioned over the roar of dying flames, he nodded shakily in response

The Avengers looked up in time to witness Phoenix making a threatening graceful landing onto the ground once more, his flaming wings held high above him, outstretched and showing their full length. 

With a rage-filled roar, Thor lobbed Mjölnir at the black clad Phoenix, lightning crackling around the ground in it’s wake. The hammer hit Phoenix head on, whacking him straight in the chest and sending his body flailing across the street and into a burnt up vehicle. The metal bent upon his impact and his body slumped in the imprint it made. The flame of his wings dimmed ever so slightly, but the heat melted the metal of the vehicle around his back. Silence cast out along the burning destruction for a short period of time, the Avengers cautiously made their way towards the supposedly knocked out villain, Thor in the lead as he went to retrieve his hammer.

Captain America neared the black and red armoured Phoenix, shield highly raised in wariness. He slowly reached out with one hand, the others raising weapons in preparation for the worst behind him. His hand came in contact with a heavily armoured upper arm, he nudged it tentatively to check on the unidentified villain.

Nothing happened.

The Avengers sighed in relief, weapons lowering as the threat was diminished. That was until it wasn’t.

”I think he’s going to be out for a while.” Captain America started “Great job Thor. Let’s get back-“

He was cut off by a forceful thrash of muscular wings that singed his suit an unpleasant black and sent him soaring through the air and into War Machine. They both fell to the ground, tumbling to a stop in a muddle of dust and dirt.

Weapons were raised as the Phoenix pulled himself from the wreckage he was submerged in. He stumbled out from the heap of metal, wings clutched tightly to his body, burning with hatred. His chest was heaving as he breathed, his downward tilted head presented his glowing red eyes in a menacingly angered way.

The heat intensity suddenly increased around the Avengers, and they glanced at each other worriedly, weapons still pointed at the hostile.

” _G-get Down!! Everyone_ _down!”_ The Captain yelled, realisation kicking in

The Phoenix was standing firmly in front of the Avengers, wings glowing at a higher intensity than before, eyes flashing and armour heating up at the volume of his heat. Clearly whoever had manufactured his armour had not expected this amount of heat to be given off. The armour was molten, melting away at it’s seams, dribbling down and creating a rather denatured appearance.

The Phoenix let out a blood-curdling scream of rage, his body convulsed and shook as the heat and light become unbearable to look at. The Avengers scrambled to the crumbling buildings, managing to take shelter under a cave of rubble with barely any time to spare for the energy that Phoenix was withholding to disperse.

In the same moment came the sound of an explosion that made the ground shake, a blinding light of overpowering flame and smoke, a whistle of splintered wood and stone from the collapsing buildings, a suffocating smell of burnt ashes and dust spreading over the area. Rubble and stone were turned to dust, metal to a molten blob on the floor, and as the dust settled, the Phoenix stood in the midst of it all, head bowed like a god among men. His armour was scorched and melted, stewed against his body. A large fragment of his helmet was broken away, leaving no more than a glowing red iris staring outwards that simmered with orange and yellow swirls of infuriation. Though they could not see his face, for it was purged with the darkness of night, sheltered by the ledge of his snapped faceplate.

The team peered out from their hiding spot, it had held reasonably well against the Phoenix’s outrage, only allowing the immense temperature of the enhanced being flow over their bodies in a shockwave of volcanic heat.  

”I have an idea!” Bruce announced, breaking the silence once he saw that Phoenix was still standing “I’ve got a sedative here that is strong enough to knock out the other guy for at least four hours! If we can somehow distract the Phoenix guy and break off a section of his armour, then the injection could be used on him!” 

“You sure it won’t kill him?” Captain America queried, spying Phoenix’s unusually still behaviour from his position behind a large lump of rubble

”It’s completely non-lethal, but he could be out for at least a day. The effects are bound to last way longer for anyone who isn’t the Hulk.” Bruce responded

”Banner, do you think Hulk will be strong enough to hold Phoenix down?” Black Widow asked

”It’s possible.” He replied

”Then get down here with that injection, we need Hulk to pin this guy down.” She replied “It’s impossible for any of us to get that close to him when he’s emitting that much heat.”

”Banner, if Hulk can manage to get more of his armour off, then it could be useful for me to load the sedative in one of my arrows.” Hawkeye suggested “Then I could easily get the sedative into his system without getting too close.”

”I’ll be there soon.” Bruce concluded, nodding towards the surveillance footage screen in the Quinjet.

He switched off the comms unit and took out his earpiece before reaching out to a case to the side of the medical compartment which contained Hulk’s sedative. He grabbed the syringe and went on to unbutton his shirt, readying himself for the other guy’s appearance.

 

* * *

 

The Avengers were still stationed amongst the rubble of a collapsed building when they heard the Hulk’s ear-splitting roar.

The Hulk bounded into the area, green muscles bulging as he let out another inhuman roar. He galloped up to Hawkeye who was crumpled close to the floor amongst a tonne of dusted rubble. Opening his clenched fist, he revealed a small syringe of swirling blue liquid and gestured for the archer to take it

”Here. Puny Banner says inject bird man when Hulk _smash_!” He exclaimed

”No, no Hulk. Don’t smash the Phoenix, just get his upper armour off! Hawkeye is going to shoot him with the sedative while you restrain him.” The Captain responded upon hearing Hulk’s remark

The Hulk grunted in response, nodding sharply once and smirking as he turned from the team to the Phoenix who was currently standing in a chaos strewn inferno, watching the green giant intently with clenched fists.

” _Bird Man!_ ” Hulk roared “ _Hulk smash Bird Man!!”_  

With that, Hulk launched up into the air, catapulting himself towards Phoenix with a force that made the ground shake. He landed directly in front of him, grabbing the Phoenix’s torso with huge green-tinged hands. Hulk raised Phoenix highly above his head with both hands, blazing wings flapping uselessly against the unbreakable grip as he struggled within his grasp. With a roar, Phoenix was propelled into a brick wall, fragments of stone shattered on impact, penetrating his already battle-damaged armour, dazing him in the process and sending an explosion of dust up from the ground.

Before Phoenix knew it, Hulk was on top of his form again, his bulging green muscles tensing in his fast approach towards him.

But when Hulk reached him, and he raised his fists in exasperation, only for his grimacing face to fall and his unrelenting body to pause, that’s when Phoenix knew that he had saw. He had saw who he once was.

Hulk looked down through the fragmented faceplate of the Phoenix, bewildered when he saw the all to familiar goatee of a very scarred but very alive Tony Stark.

” _Tin man?_ ” Hulk huffed in question

”Stark’s long gone, _monster_.” Phoenix answered, venom dripping from his voice

The Hulk roared in a newly found anger, deafening Phoenix and making his hands fly up to where his ears would be under his armour to protect his eardrums from potential damage. With the broken helmet, his armour was not as soundproof as it was meant to be, meaning that Hulk’s roar in a close range was unbearable to listen to.

” _Tin man call Hulk monster, Hulk Smash!_ ” He thundered, pounding his muscular fists down onto Phoenix’s chest plate, breaking small chunks of it off in the process

Phoenix grunted as his armour was crushed and a large hand plummeted down over his head, grabbing at the remains of his helmet, clawing it away from his face. He gasped when the cold air of the night hit his face with a unsympathetic force. He heard yelling from behind the Hulk, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying, all he saw was _red_.

His wings lashed out beneath him in a surge of flame, knocking the Hulk back from his distressed form and headfirst onto the hard ground beneath him with a _crack_. He stumbled up to his feet, staggering along the ground as he recovered from the previous disorientation and dizziness that Hulk had inflicted. His armour hung loose from his body, the chest plate still intact around his arc reactor, but demolished from the neck upwards and in various other places around his body. His crushed helmet lay off to the side of him, no more than a crumpled lump of scrap metal.  

He heard numerous gasps from out of his line of sight and the yelling quietened.

He turned to face them. He looked them _all_ in the eye.

 _The Avengers_.

“ _Stark?_ ” Captain America spoke, the others were seemingly too shocked to say anything, their wide-eye glares said it all.

Phoenix took a tentative step back, the angered flame of his wings now gradually dying down to their regular black feathered appearance as he clenched them close to his body. He gazed over each of The Avengers. He knew each of their names, due to _Stark’s_ memories and Red Skull’s frequent discussions about their nuisance existence and how they could plan to stop them. 

To them, Phoenix looked like _Stark_ ; long messy strands of black hair standing tall on the top of his head, brushed back off of his face. His skin was pale, trademark goatee still very much present on his face that was now parted by an unpleasant looking scar that passed through his upper and lower lip. A mass of scared tissued was gathered on the right of his head along with the odd shorter scars scattered along his features. His eyes were no longer their intelligent chocolate brown, but instead were a glowing, piercing red that swirled with orange and yellow flicks of flame. The veins around his eyes, to the sides of his face and down his neck were luminous, pulsing with an underlying power.

” _Tony_.” War Machine said, lifting his faceplate to reveal a very worried looking James Rhodes

Phoenix scowled, his wings twitching in annoyance.

”Stark’s _not_ here.”  He growled deeply, his expression darkening and the Captain visibly took a sharp intake of breath.

The Avengers were taken aback from the sudden reveal of the Phoenix’s identity. 

Phoenix fumbled around with the release mechanism of his remaining armour, pulling the hidden switch and letting it fall uncaringly to the ground with a metallic _clank_. The removal of his suit only left him in the suit’s under armour which consisted of a neck high body suit and highly technological patterns which stretched out across the entirety of it. The red arc reactor was fully presented in the centre of his chest.

Phoenix glanced over to see Hulk unpleasantly shrinking back into the form of Bruce Banner within a matter of seconds, his stretchable pants reformed perfectly over his body. Banner groaned and muttered something under his breath before punching weakly at the ground and slowly letting his eyes trace upwards towards Phoenix. He froze upon seeing him, eyes wide as he glanced between Phoenix and the Avengers.

”T-Tony!?” He spluttered, scrambling to his feet on shaking legs

”Hey- Hey, _Banner_.” Hawkeye interrupted, placing a hand firmly on Bruce’s bicep, stopping him from making his way to Phoenix. He shook his head vigorously to get the message across. 

“What happened to you, котенок?” Black Widow ushered, stepping hesitantly towards Phoenix

Captain America held a hand out firmly, stopping her in her tracks, but she brushed him off.

”You have to let me try.” she quietly pleaded to him, and he ever so slightly nodded, letting out a barely audible shaky breath

She stepped past the Captain and the rest of the uneasy Avengers and slowly made her way towards Phoenix in attempt to look as calm and non-hostile as possible. Phoenix eyed her every movement with a critical expression, red irises gleaming in the dark.

”котенок. It’s ok.” She cooed gently, raising a calming hand but Phoenix tensed at the sudden movement, his wings trembling with the urge to attack. 

Black Widow took another careful step forwards, her eyes analysing Phoenix for any signs of aggressive behaviour.

”Please, котенок. You can tell us. We will not harm you.” She pleaded

”I already told you. I am not _Stark_.” Phoenix Spat as he glared venomously at her with a lurch of disgust

”Even if you aren’t, we will not harm you. We can help you, котенок.” She replied, again taking another step forwards as the Avengers nervously observed from behind her

” _That’s far enough.”_ He snarled, wings splaying threateningly at the Widow’s close proximity and she viably flinched at the sudden move

”Nat-“ Hawkeye started

“ _Don’t_.” She interrupted before turning back to Phoenix “котенок. Please.” 

Phoenix looked down, his eyes still radiating a frighteningly red glow.

”You left me.” He announced distantly, eyes glazed

”котенок?” She questioned

”You _all_ left me.” He growled, eyes flicking back up to them all

”Tony-“ Captain America started

 _”I. Am. Not. **Stark**.” _He thundered, face contorting in a threatening grimace _“I am what you created by leaving him. Tony Stark died when he was captured by HYDRA, now-“_ he laughed hysterically but visibly swallowed it down  _“-now, there’s only **me**.”_

His wings flared up at lightning speed, feathers splaying out at their full length as they began to spark and ignite with flicks of flame. His eyes flashed and his veins pulsed with colour as his powers began to flare. He took a large step forwards, letting his wings flick upwards with a _flap_ that had enough power to make Black Widow recoil from the force and heat of his attack. 

“Nat, get back now!” Hawkeye yelled over the flames

Black Widow shuffled back from the Phoenix in fear that she would not normally express. Phoenix’s  jaw was clenched tightly as he stared her down, his highly held wings blazing behind him in rage. He stormed up upon her, teeth bared in a furious inferno, his hand outstretched and began to flicker and glow with hints of wild flames. 

But before he could do anything, Hawkeye had his bow at the ready, drawn tightly in his grip, pressed up close to his face as he concentrated for a direct shot at Phoenix’s shoulder. He released the arrow and it whistled through the air, rocketing faster than the human eye could follow, directly towards Phoenix. The arrow was a direct shot. It penetrated deeply through Phoenix’s under armour and lodged itself deeply into the flesh of his left shoulder. He yelped, his previously outstretched hand flailing up to grab at the arrow in his flesh. The flame quickly died down as he fell to one knee, his eyes no longer focused on Black Widow, but on the blue liquid that was slowly seeping into his body from the arrow. He ripped the arrow from his flesh, dropping it to the ground and growling with anger, snarling wildly at his opponents with a loss of his previous composure. His eyes flashed a deep red before the world began to spin around him and his eyes rolled into the back of his head as his body fell limp against the scorched ground.

 

 

**_ To Be Continued... _ **


	8. Interrogation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers return to Avengers Tower from the battle with Phoenix. With an unexpected identity reveal, the ‘villain’ is kept under the strict security within the tower, but it isn’t long until he makes his attempt at escape.

The Avengers watched intently through a large one way mirror as Phoenix painfully woke.

After Clint had managed to shoot and inject the Hulk’s sedative to him, the man almost immediately collapsed onto the scorched ground. When he fell to his knees, glowing irises rolling to the back of his head, Captain America ran to break his fall. He narrowly caught Phoenix from under the arms, lowering him down all the way to the ground, cradling his head on his lap as his wings twitched uselessly and fell limp beneath him. His rage filled fire had died down pretty quickly, his wings went back to their regular black feathered appearance, smoke gently simmering up from their surface. His glowing veins retreated back into the depths of his flesh and his furious eyes dimmed in the dark. 

The remaining avengers had rushed to Phoenix’s side, letting Bruce take his pulse in the process. After announcing that he was stable enough to be moved, they decided that it would be best to take him back to the Avengers Tower for the protection of his identity. The team didn’t want the news to get out that _Tony Stark_ has been transformed into a megalomaniacal villain with wings and extreme fire powers. The team managed to get him safely back to the Quinjet using one of the emergency medical gurneys that were on-board. They had strapped him firmly in place with ankle, waist, wrist, chest and head restraints, his wings tucked neatly beneath his body.

After getting him back to the Tower, Bruce did a medical evaluation of his body whilst he was unconscious. The damage he found was horrendous. Despite the fact that his face was horribly scarred, he also discovered a large scar from what would most likely be a stab wound in his abdomen, he summarised that this is where all the blood came from in his lab. His back was a literal mess. Small jagged scars were littered down the surface of his skin amongst the ragged application of his wings. Large rivets of red-tinged tissue channeled down his back and around the base of he wings, clearly from where the surgeons had attached his bone structure, blood supply and nervous system to the wings. He also took samples of his blood which had an unusual illumines glow that flicked and strived with life within the syringe. 

Now, Phoenix was in a straight jacket, his wings strapped tightly against his back with leather restraints that were covered from top to bottom in sigils.

It was for his own safety.

Thor had taken some knowledge of restraining magical beings from Asgard. In his visiting, he learned about sigils which had the ability to dampen the powers of a powerful individual, allowing them to be restrained without the abilities to escape. This is what they used on Phoenix’s restraints in hope of it dampening his powers when he woke.

Phoenix was currently being held in an interrogation room within Avengers Tower. He was chained to the ground by the neck and was seated upon a metal chair which lay behind a large metal table.

He had been unconscious for thirty-six hours.

A frown had made it’s way onto his brow, showing signs of his waking. The team couldn’t do anything but watch from behind the glass as his consciousness made it’s way back to him. His head fell forwards, causing the chains to rattle loudly as he visibly grimaced. His arms shuffled within the jacket as he slumped his head back and squinted his eyes open slowly.

He blinked as his red irises emerged and glanced down at his restrained body. He flinched at the sight of his restraints, his face tightening into a dark snarl as he tugged at the chains around his neck through the use of his body. He froze in the middle of his thrashing, eyes flitting towards his back. He strained his head around in attempt to get a good look at his wings, and clearly wasn’t happy with what he saw. He slumped back around in his chair with a defeated huff and gave up with the attempts of escape.

”Looks like those sigils worked after all.” Rhodes mused

”Yeah, he’s not going anywhere.” Clint replied coldly, gaining an unpleased look from Rhodes

”I’m going to go and talk to him.” Steve announced

”Be careful Steve, we still don’t know what he’s capable of.” Natasha warned

”But we can still try to help him.” He he replied as he looked back at her

She nodded, looking back to the man they once knew who was now intently staring at the table in front of him, his red gaze distant and wild.

 

* * *

 

The Avengers watched warily as Steve unlocked the door to the interrogation room and stepped inside, closing the door softly behind him.

Phoenix’s eyes were glued to him in a deep fiery glare, watching his every move as he approached and took the seat opposite to him. Steve made sure that he approached slowly and calmly to get Phoenix to recognise that he was definitely not hostile.

Phoenix was unusually still, eyes unblinking staring deeply into Steve’s soul.

”Hey Tony.” The Captain started. Phoenix tensed at the name, snarling and looking down at the floor to the left of the table, his movement causing a harsh rattle of the chains clamped to him as he avoided Steve’s gaze.

”It’s been a while since we last saw each other.” He continued after a short silence “ _Tony_.”

” _I’m not Stark_.” He growled at the repetition of the name “Stark died when HYDRA created _me_.”

”Okay then. If your not Tony, then can you tell me exactly what happened to him?” He questioned, clearly this conversation was going the way he wanted it to.

Phoenix growled in response, his veins pulsing with raging power as he again thrashed in the chains out of annoyance.

Steve sighed and leaned back in his chair. In this state, he wasn’t going to get anything about what happened to Tony when he was taken by HYDRA. He needed to take things a different way.

” _Phoenix_.” He reluctantly said, eyeing him closely

Phoenix’s head snapped up and his blazing eyes met Steve’s.

”I need you to co-operate with me.” He said “We can help you.”

Phoenix frowned and analysed Steve’s expression before turning his head towards the all to obvious one sided mirror. He knew that the Avengers would be watching this conversation unfold. He let his eyes trace over every inch of the mirror, giving the obvious hint that he knew what was going on here.

”I don’t need _help_.” He spat, turning back to face Steve with a piercing glare “HYDRA helped me long before _the Avengers_ did.”

”All I need you to do is answer a few questions.” He lied “Then we can let you go.”

Phoenix’s eye twitched at the lie, and he looked down to the floor again.

”Red Skull told me that you’d be like this.” He muttered loud enough for Steve to hear

”Sorry?” Steve asked concerned

He opened his mouth to reply, but before he could the door the interrogation room swung gently open, revealing a very calm Natasha Romanov who entered the room doused in professionalism. She strode into the room, closing the door behind her and heading directly towards Phoenix.

She stood by Steve’s shoulder, watching intently, analysing his body language and features with a sharp glare.

 “котенок.” She greeted, earning a grimace from Phoenix

”Phoenix, can we please ask you some questions?” Steve pleaded “It won’t take long.”

Phoenix sighed, slumping further down his chair and ruffling the black feathers on his strapped up wings. He cocked his head to a side and looked between Steve and Natasha , gesturing for them to do whatever they were going to do.

”What did HYDRA do to Tony Stark?” Natasha asked, face as emotionless as ever

”They gave him a gift.” Phoenix replied cryptically, meeting her eyes

”Explain.” She said sternly 

“ _Tony Stark_ never believed that he was loved and cared for by his _friends_.“ He spat,  vigorously leaning forward on his chair, pulling on his restraints “HYDRA freed him of that. They gave him a new family, gave _me_ a new family.”

Steve and Natasha looked at each other questionably at Phoenix’s bitter response.

”Why do you say that Tony is dead? Are you an alternate personality?”  Steve asked carefully

“HYDRA merged him with the Phoenix entity to create me.” He smirked “We are an entirely different personality when together.”

”Can we talk to Tony in any way?” Natasha asked a frown pinched on her brow

Phoenix broke out in a fit of hysterical laughter at the question. He bent over on the chair, head downcast as his face contorted in a horrific smile. The chain around his neck rattled greatly at the sudden harsh movements. He heaved in a reasonable amount of oxygen and supposedly calmed himself enough to reply.

”You must be mad if you think that _Stark_ wants to see you.” He laughed, eyes ablaze and wild “ _You abandoned him, left him for the dead!.”_

He looked away from the two Avengers, a dark smirk still planted on his features as he continued to giggle in amusement.

”You didn’t answer my question.” Natasha replied firmly over his hysterics

“I don’t need to.” He growled suddenly, the veins in his face crackling and pulsing with energy

Natasha was taken aback from his sudden outburst of anger. She stepped back, uncomfortable under his fire induced glare.

”How do you have wings?” Steve asked over the uncomfortable silence

”HYDRA gifted them to me in aid if my abilities.” He replied, his deep glare moving to meet Steve’s eyes

”What is the Phoenix entity?” Natasha inquired

”It’s nothing you need to know about.” He replied in a short, clipped tone

”okay. I think that’s enough for today.” Steve announced, standing from the chair opposite Phoenix

” _Today_?... Y-You lied to me.” Phoenix said quietly and Steve glanced at Natasha before looking back to him “You _said_ that you would let me go.”

”I’m sorry.” Steve sympathised “But-“

”No.” he interrupted, the veins of his face visibly darkening with a red hatred

”Steve-“ Natasha started but the recognisable change in temperature of the room stopped her in her tracks

Phoenix stood from his place on the chair, the short length of the chains straining against his strength. The metal around his neck began to glow with a molten orange and yellow haze, groaning when Phoenix thrashed against it, snapping it away from his neck and letting it fall, to the ground.

The material of his straight jacket began to blacken and singe, smoking and tearing away as the glow of infuriated arms were revealed underneath. The veins pulsed around his torso, growing more dense towards the arc reactor which swirled with fiery energy. The flesh and muscle around his body was illuminated by his pulsing veins. He snarled, ripping the remains of the singed fabric from his body, though the leather straps remained untouched over his wings.

The sigils were preventing the Phoenix’s powers from travelling through his wings, this gave the Avengers a great advantage over his outburst, not that it made him any weaker, but he could not use the wings to his advantage.

The lights flickered, their circuits failing due to the extreme heat, as Phoenix looked up to Steve and Natasha, his red irises radiating with hatred. He growled, vaulting over the table in the centre of the room and making a mad dash towards the two Avengers. 

”Nat, go!” Steve yelled, grabbing her arm and pulling her towards the door of the interrogation room

Steve punched the code into the door’s security pad to unlock it, and he just about ripped the door off of it’s hinges when he stumbled towards the exit. The two scrambled out of the room in a panicked rush, slamming the door harshly behind them and locking the Phoenix inside.

As soon as the door clicked firmly shut, the metal was greeted by a sharp _thud_ that echoed down the dim corridor. A deep dent was glowing with a molten radiance within the metal, inflicted from the fist of the Phoenix from within.

Steve slumped to the ground against the cold brick wall of the corridor, breathing heavily as Natasha watched over him in silence. In the same instance, the door to the spectator room burst open.

”Hey, you two okay?” Clint asked urgently as he ran into the corridor

”Yeah, we’re fine.” Steve breathed from his place on the floor “That was pretty damn close.”

”Yeah, and now we’ve got an enhanced Tony Stark living in our interrogation room. And he’s free to roam around.” He replied “I doubt it will be long until he figures out how to get those restraints off of his wings either.”

”What are we going to do?” Natasha spoke up

”I’m not sure.” Clint said, offering a hand to Steve “Bruce recons that he could have gotten out of that room with ease. Why he hasn’t done it yet is still a mystery.”

He grabbed firmly onto Clint’s hand, using it as support for getting up from the floor.

”We should get back to the others.” Steve said

”Yeah. Let’s go.” Clint agreed

The three turned in union and began to walk back to the spectator area of the interrogation room, silent and unspeaking of what just happened.

 

* * *

  

Steve, Clint and Natasha joined the rest of the Avengers in the spectator room. They were all solemnly watching through the re-enforced glass of what had become of the Phoenix.

”Maybe we should tell Pepper.” Rhodes suggested “I don’t know if there is much that we can do for him.”

”The results for the blood tests I took are still to come back, maybe we could get something from them.” Bruce stated “An antidote, even if it’s temporary, it could help.”

”From what we saw in there, I- I don’t think there’s much of Tony left... Not the Tony we knew anyways.” Steve sighed

”God Tones, what did they do to you?...” Rhodes grieved, looking through the glass and onto the Phoenix inside

Phoenix had now taken refuge to sliding down the far wall of the room, his legs splayed out in front of him, head low, wings still strapped up behind his back. He was unusually still, apart from the odd twitch or harsh movement. His eyes were still glowing furiously with a red coiling power, His glowing arc reactor and pulsing veins were on full display now that his torso was bare. His scarred face was illuminated by red snaking energy that crackled through his blood supply in the rigid form of fissures that were as thin as hair.

”Perhaps if we bring Lady Potts to Friend Stark, it will bring out his old self?” Thor theorised as his glanced at the Phoenix

”It could work.” Natasha replied “But how are we going to get her in there safely when he’s in this state? He’ll burn her to ashes.”

”We don’t need to.” Bruce said “Tony had this room designed so that we can speak to the captives within. The mirror effect can be removed so it would act as a regular window. He would be able to see her without her being put into danger.” 

“How are we going to tell her?” Clint murmured after a short silence

”We’ll tell her that we’ve found him.” Steve said “But he’s... he’s not himself.”

”Pepper’s going to need all the support that she can get. It’s not going to be easy.” Natasha declared

”My Friends, I do not mean to interrupt this conversation, but I think that Friend Stark is doing...  _something_..” Thor announced, pointing a large hand towards the glass

The team gathered around the one sided mirror, looking in on the Phoenix who was still crouched on the ground, his face firmly plated with concentration. His hands were clenched into fists by his sides as he breathed heavily and his eyes appeared more illumines than before, irises flicking with ignited streaks of red, orange and golden yellow. The straps that were laced around his black feathered wings were beginning to sizzle with flame and ferocity.

”Shit...” Clint breathed

In a sudden, the straps around Phoenix’s wings engulfed in a mass of flame that smoked and spat in fury. Phoenix remained unaffected by the the fire, his eyes remained focused on the ground in front of him as his mouth hung slightly agape, breathing in concentration. The sigils on the restraints glowed with a vibrant green haze through the burning material. The sigils slowly burnt out amongst the flame, disappearing amongst the chaos and the material charred away from his wings, falling to the ground in an ungraceful heap of ash and dust.

Phoenix shook his head and brought a hand up to briefly cradle his forehead, the glowing veins in his body visibly dimming. He pushed himself up from his place in the ground, wings hanging low behind him as he leaned against the wall in attempt to regain his balance. His wings raised up his back, folding into themselves neatly and settling close to his skin. The black feathers of his wings cascaded down the length of his back, trailing lightly on the floor.

He looked around the room, red irises scathing across the length of the one sided mirror.

”You were fools to think that you could contain me” he seethed to nobody in particular, but he knew that the Avengers would be watching him from behind the glass

Phoenix stalked forwards to the mirror and raised his arm, palm outstretched against the glass surface. His head lowered and his eyes closed in concentration, long strands of hair hanging over his eyes and a dark shadow cast over his brow.

The Avengers watched in horror as the veins around his body began to glow and pulse with power, illuminating his flesh with a heated fury. His eyes glowed brightly behind his eyelids and the arc reactor swirled with energy. The lights in the interrogation room began to flicker and sizzle before exploding into splinters of glass that skyrocketed across the room in a cacophony of sparks, leaving the room in an eerie darkness.

The one way mirror began to sizzle and crack with the overload of heat, molten lightning bolts of glass began to form from the edges of the pane, travelling through the entirety and weakening the structure. With an abrupt crack and a prolonged pop, the glass crumbled in on itself, shrieking it’s own melodramatic song as it scattered into a million pieces in a cacophony of roaring commotion. The shards decimated on their way to the floor, transforming into pitiful piles of ash and dust before they could even touch the ground.

Silence spread across the two rooms.

Within the darkness, a pair of beaming red irises swirled with power and virtue as they peered outwards. They flicked around, weighing up each of the Avengers before they returned to gazing at the floor.

Phoenix stepped forwards from the dark, vaulting over the low wall that separated the two rooms. He stood tall, wings outstretched behind him at their full length and height. His fists were clenched, his infuriated gaze still cast downwards.

” _Phoenix_ , don’t do this.” Natasha warned, a wary hand placed over her gun holster

”I don’t have a choice.” Phoenix snarled back “It’s for _HYDRA’s_ good.”

In a blur of black feathers, Phoenix was lunging towards Steve, a flaming hand going straight for his neck. He latched around his throat with a steel grip and pushed him up against the wall, his feet trailing off the ground. Steve choked, all the air suddenly taken from his lungs, his hands flew up to Phoenix’s, scrambling around in attempt to pry himself free.

There was an uproar from the remaining Avengers they shouted and screamed at Phoenix, begging him to let Steve go. Natasha ran towards the pair, Clint and Thor close behind her, but with a flick of Phoenix’s wings, there was an explosion of heat and power that sent all of them flying into the walls of the room, crashing to the floor in a heap of blood and dust.

”I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.” Phoenix whispered into Steve’s ear “Killing the righteous Captain America... HYDRA’s greatest foe..”

”Don’t just sit there, do something!” Rhodes yelled from his place on the floor “He’s going to kill Rogers!”

The Avengers yelled in a collection of howls and screeches, Phoenix stayed oblivious to them all, continuing to grasp at Steve’s jugular tightly, cutting off his bloodstream.

”Steve!” Clint bellowed over the chaos “God, Thor can you hit him off?!” 

“I will try my best.” Thor boomed in reponse, standing from the ground, palm outstretched in calling for Mjölnir

The wall opposite Thor exploded, plaster and stone flying across the room as Mjölnir catapulted into his grasp.

”Look here, foul Phoenix!” He boomed

Phoenix looked up from his focus on Steve in question, his piercing red irises making contact with Thor’s.

Thor lobbed Mjölnir straight into Phoenix’s side with one smooth throw, sending him veering off through the room. He plunged straight into the door of the room, tearing it off it’s hinges with a _screech_ and into the opposite wall in the main corridor. The wall behind the door ruptured and erupted in a mass of plaster, smoke and dust, covering Phoenix with a layer of muck and dirt. Thor galloped through the open doorway, Mjölnir rocketing straight back into his fist.

Steve gasped, falling from Phoenix’s grip. He collapsed onto the floor, his lips blue-tinged and eyes bloodshot, full to the brim of tears. His gaze was unfocused and glazed over. Bruce ran to his aid almost immediately, checking him over and shining a small medical light into his distant eyes whilst murmuring reassuring words.

Phoenix groaned, ripping himself out from the crumbling mess behind him. The force was enough to break the metal door off it’s hinges and wrap itself around Phoenix’s wings, along with embedding the metal into the brick wall behind it. Phoenix stood and shook the dirt from his wings and hair, sparks and debris still falling from the disrupted ceiling above him.

He smirked like a shark when he saw Thor striding up towards him, his hammer firm in his grip.

”That all you got?” He sniggered darkly

Thor roared, raising Mjölnir towards Phoenix in anger. Phoenix’s wings raised in defence, black feathers splaying outwards as Thor approached. He stormed up to him, bringing Mjölnir down with an almighty strength. Phoenix hurled up his hands at the same moment, his palms coming in contact with the metal of Mjölnir’s form. He screamed out in rage, using all of his strength to push Thor back, muscles bulging and wings straining as his veins exploded with energy.

He thrusted his wings forwards, letting them engulf in a mass of flame and heat as the force emitted from them made Thor step back a couple of feet. Mjölnir dropped from his grip, landing firmly on the ground as he resorted to shielding his face with his forearms from the immense heat. The leather bracers wrapped around his arms were not able to cope with the heat, they sizzled and burned with glowing embers.

Phoenix stepped forwards, closing in on Thor’s struggling frame, he roared in hatred, launching a firm foot straight into his chest. He pushed with all his strength, sending another wave of immense heat straight on top of Thor with the help of his wings. The kick was enough to send Thor hurling past Bruce and Steve and directly through the wall behind him. His body disappeared into the darkness of the collapsing room behind him, a tonne of deadly debris and rubble plunging down onto him.

”Thor!” Phoenix registered more than one of the Avengers screaming before they all ran to check on him

Phoenix was about to storm straight back into the room when he was interrupted by a very inhuman and high-pitched screech. He turned to look down the corridor, to the source of the sound, wings spread widely behind him, back hunched and heaving in oxygen, fists clenched and eyes radiating with rage. Except he was met by someone that he did not expect to see, not ever.

There was none other than Pepper Potts standing like a deer in headlights in the centre of the corridor. A coffee mug that she had been previously holding had crashed down onto the floor, the brown liquid splattering out amongst broken shards of ceramics. Her hands were plastered over her gaping mouth, eyes red and wild with brewing tears.

Phoenix took a step forwards and she flinched backwards in defence. He froze in his tracks, eyes wide.

”T-Tony?” She asked, voice barely a whisper

Phoenix remained silent, the red of his irises dimming, veins shrinking back to their original shade as he slowly, hesitantly lowered his wings, their flame diminishing as his breathing became more steady.

”Pep?” He breathed

Rhodes, Natasha and Clint came rocketing out of the remains of the door in the same instant, pistols and bow raised in defence against Phoenix, all eyes focused only on him. They came to a halt in union, stopping just before the Phoenix and weighing up the situation.

”Miss. Potts, stay back.” Natasha warned 

Phoenix growled, wings raising as he turned on them. His eyes began to glow a menacing red as he raised his wings in anger.

”No! Wait. _Wait_!” Pepper shrieked

” _Pepper_.” Rhodes cautioned

”Just wait, please.” She pleaded 

She took in a deep breath and began to approach Phoenix from behind, her stiletto heals softly clicking against the floor. She took a deep shaky breath.

“Tony.” She started, she raised her hands in a calming gesture as Phoenix sharply turned, snarling and setting himself upon her as he did so. 

Her eyes skittered over his form, taking in his wings and glowing red irises, his now red arc reactor placed upon his bare chest, but most importantly, how scarred his face and body now was.

Phoenix’s wings lowered at Pepper’s calming coos, he warily watched her approach, twitching slightly at any harsh movements that she made.

” _Tony_.” She repeated more confidently as she neared him “It’s okay.”

She reached out slowly as she approached, laying a soft hand against his bicep. Phoenix tensed at the sense of touch, taking in a sharp intake of breath but quickly relaxed under her comforting presence. She took hold of his hand and rubbed soothing circular motions into his skin. Advancing on her progress, she leaned in close to him, wrapping him in a reassuring hug of affection, ruffling the feathers of his wings and stoking the soft surface of their trembling form.

Phoenix stared distantly to the end of the corridor from over Pepper’s shoulder, but shortly brought up his arms to return the gentle hug, his wings stretching out and moving to envelope around Pepper in a warm, black feathered embrace, startling her in the process.

”What’s happening to me, Pep?..” He whimpered into her neck

The three Avengers behind her stood, bewildered of what they were seeing. They lowered their weapons and Pepper gave them a thin-lipped watery smile from within Phoenix’s embrace.

”I-I’ve _killed so many_ _people.”_ He sobbed, tears brimming in his own eyes “What the _fuck_  is _wrong_ with me?”

”Everything’s going to be okay, Tony.” She cooed quietly, tears forming in her own eyes “It’s okay...”

Silence spread out across the corridor, no more than Phoenix’s broken whimpers echoing down the empty hallway.

“Well, I’ll be damned...” Clint muttered under his breath 

 

 

**_ To Be Continued... _ **


	9. Comprised  (Interval)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red Skull makes plans for a visit to Avengers Tower...

 

“Sir, If I may interrupt.” 

“Yes, what is it?”

”It appears that _Project_ _Dark-Fire_ has been compromised.”

” _Compromised?!_ What do you mean compromised? _”_

“ _The Avengers_ , Sir, they have taken him into captivity.”

Red Skull growled, his face contorting from disappointment to anger.

” _How could you let this happen!?_ ” He thundered, pointing a gloved accusing finger at the agent

”I’m sorry Sir, we did not expect this to happen.”

” _He is our **only** chance at making HYDRA prosperous again, and you are informing me that the Avengers just **took him into captivity!?** ”_

 _”_ Y-Yes, Sir.”

” _How is that possible!?_ The Phoenix should be able to incinerate _anyone_ who steps in his way!”

”They used an unknown sedative on him, Sir.”

The Skull cursed, turning away from the agent with a displeased huff. 

“And do you know where he is now?” He questioned, still facing with his back to the agent

”I believe he is within Avengers Tower, Sir.”

Red Skull hummed, his eyes skating back and fourth

“I want a squad of HYDRA soldiers readied as soon as possible. Give them our newest weaponry.” He commanded 

“Right away, Sir.”

“It looks like we are going to pay  _The Avengers_ a little visit...”

 

 

**_ To Be Continued... _ **


	10. Issues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Tony Reunites with Pepper, the progress that the Avengers had made soon goes down the drain. They must come to terms with the situation at hand and come up with a plan to solve the the dilemma.

 

Tony staggered to the ground clutching his head and tugging at his hair. His black feathered wings trembled violently upon his back, pressed tightly against the surface of his scarred skin.  His breaths came in sort pants as he whimpered and curled in in himself, knees pressed tightly against his chest. He scrunched his eyes shut as hard as he could, knuckles white against the strain of clawing at his hair. Growls and pained groans made their way through his lips as he struggled on the floor. He could hear the shrieks of unidentifiable voices around him, black shapes rushing around with shimmering yellow eyes and razor fangs bared in ill humour. 

He shakily stood from the ground, lashing out at them in rage, punching and kicking with all his might to rid of them. He heard their screams as he attacked; screams of horror and disgust. He raised his wings to their full height, warning off the shadows that were closing in on him,  but they only laughed and pointed at his attempt of scaring them off, advancing on his position. He backed himself against a nearby wall, hands skating over it’s smooth surface I’m search for support.

“ _We don’t want to **hurt** you..” _the voices chanted in his head

_“Hurt you...”_

_**“Hurt you..”** _

But still they laughed. They laughed at his gullible mind, how he could possibly think that they _wouldn’t hurt **him**_.

 

** No. **

**No _more_.**

 

He lashed out.

 

A wave of dizziness wrapped it’s way around his thoughts, knocking him off balance as fended off the darkness. His vision blurred at the edges, threatened by black spots that swarmed over his composure. Scrunching his eyes shut, he shook his head and unwillingly let his body slide ungracefully down the smooth wall until his legs came in contact with the floor. He let his wings lay limply at his sides out of exhaustion as he huffed, breathing becoming shallower by the second.

Tears formed in his eyes as he looked around in panic, the shadows were closing in, smothering him in their darkness, erasing him from existence. His eyes cast down to the tiling of the ground, a peculiar stare of acceptance plastered upon his features.

This was it. The end of the line. This was how he ends.

”-y!” A faint voice screamed. Tony frowned.

”-ony!”

He focused on the voice, squinting his eyes as the form of a figure became visible in front of him.

”Tony! Look at me!”

”Don’t go to sleep. Please, you need to come back to me- Tony! -No look at me!” It shrieked

He pried his eyes open, only to be met by the extraordinary shade strawberry blonde hair. He deflated at the sight, he was safe.

” _Pepper?_ ” He croaked quietly, head lolling to the side

 

* * *

 

 

“Bruce, What the _hell_ did you do to him!?” Clint yelled over Phoenix’s commotion 

“I- nothing! I just gave him a sedative to keep him under control!” He stuttered “It shouldn’t have caused a reaction like this!”

”He _was_ under control!!” Rhodes yelled in response “Pepper was _hugging_ him for christ’s sake!”

Phoenix thrashed on the floor in front of them. His knees were pressed up to his chest, wings shaking, eyes scrunched shut and hands yanking at his hair. Pepper had quickly backed off from him, her face clearly showing how distraught she was in the situation. She stood, eyes fixed on Phoenix’s form, tears forming as she watched in horror.

Bruce had emerged from the spectator room minutes after Pepper had gotten a hold on Tony. He announced quietly that Thor was pretty much unscathed, and Steve needed a short amount of time to recover from a mild concussion and the bruising that he suffered to his neck. He had Thor keep a check on him whilst he came to see what the situation was with the Phoenix. Upon seeing that Pepper had somehow cause the resurfacing of Tony, he though that it would be best if he sedated him with a mild sedative to keep him under control. 

Turns out that was a bad idea.

“To me it looks like HYDRA injected him with something, and it isn’t reacting well with the sedative.”  Bruce evaluated

Phoenix’s eyes were blown wide, staring into a void as he clawed his hands down his face. He weakly stumbled to his knees, wings flopping out behind him. He growled abruptly, lashing out blindly with clenched fists as he made his way to unstable legs.

”We need to get him under control Banner!” Natasha informed, remaining as calm as possible

”How the _hell_ are we meant to do that!?” Clint screeched “He could incinerate us if we try anything!”

”In this state, I don’t know If he will.” Bruce stated solemnly “Help me get him on the ground again and we’ll go from there.”

Rhodes hesitantly edged his was past the distressed Phoenix and towards Pepper, uttering calming words to her and backing her away from the situation.

”Tony, I don’t know if you can hear me, but we are going to get you sit down.” Bruce continued, arms raised warily

He curtly nodded towards Clint and Natasha, a signal to advance on the situation. They advanced in union, surrounding the distressed and clearly disoriented Phoenix. Rhodes slowly crept forwards from his place next to Pepper, eyes full of caution and worry. Creating a circle around Phoenix, they decreased his likeliness of escape though still providing as much of a calming notion as possible. They didn’t want to hurt him... or him to hurt them.

Phoenix’s demeanour visibly changed when he was slowly cornered against the corridor wall. His left arm rummaged through the air in search for the cold hard surface, fingers splayed shakily across its form. His breathing was deep and uneven, chest heaving more than before and his eyes were deeply unfocused, skittering around wildly with a tense red gaze and yet not really seeing.

”N-no Stop! ...Stop it, stop it, _stop it!”_ He whimpered quietly, seemingly more to himself than anything else 

Phoenix shook his head vigorously, constantly murmuring inconsistencies under his breath. His hands shakily made their way towards his head and he stumbled backwards against the wall in a sudden loss of balance, clawing and ripping at his hair, wings trembling and clutched tightly to the skin his back.

”Tony?” Bruce urged, quickly realising the escalating situation “Tony, I need you to listen to me, you have to _calm down_.”

Bruce let out an unsettled breath, unease expressing in the situation, the irises of his eyes were tinged with the slightest of green hue, the downside of a stressful situation.

”We have to stop cornering him, it’s making him worse.” Natasha stated warily

”Yeah, _no shit_.” Clint sarcastically said

”Cut it out, your not helping with anything Barton.” Rhodes interjected quietly but firmly

”What it the meaning of this commotion?” Thor boomed as he strided confidently out of the remains of what was a spectators room, a distraught Steve staggering up behind him

Though his attitude faltered as his eyes were laced upon his fallen comrade, a concerned frown formed upon his sharp brow.

”What happened Bruce?” Steve asked breathlessly as he hastily propped himself against the wall with one hand

”I- I injected him with a sedative, it isn’t reacting well with his system.” Bruce replied guiltily, eyes analysing the quivering genius “He.. he isn’t responding.”

“Just- just give him some space, keep him surrounded but give him space.” Steve commanded

The surrounding team hesitantly took several steps back from the Phoenix, eyes still fixed onto his every movement. They were utterly lost for words, with no idea of how to deal with the current situation, Bruce was the one to attempt to make a move.

Through the past several minutes Tony- The Phoenix, which ever was more in control, had not made any improvements, an the team knew without words that they had to do something to get him out of his unresponsive state.

Bruce edged towards the man’s shaking form. It looked like his legs were going to give out at any moment, his body was pressed firmly against the smooth wall.

”Tony?” Bruce asked gently “Tony- _Phoenix,_ which ever you prefer to go with... I need you to let me know if you can hear me.”

Blazing eyes slowly moved up to meet Bruce’s.

Bruce took a startled gasp at the intensity of his stare, and the Phoenix stood from his slouched position on the wall, standing at his full height, and that alone was threatening. Though the fear was still prominent in his eyes, nobody could miss it, the way he flinched when somebody made the slightest of movements, the way his fire induced gaze was aware of everyone around him, the way that his wings trembled and shook tightly against his back.

Phoenix tilted his head, a wordless gesture.

” _Phoenix_.” Bruce continued, taking a hesitant step forwards, hands out straight in a un-threatening manner “I don’t want to _hurt_ you”

Phoenix’s eye twitched at his words, and he shook his head, as if trying to clear his thoughts.

” _No_..” he muttered

“What?” Bruce questioned, clearly he wasn’t the only one that was severely confused in the situation, he glanced around, each of the corridor’s occupants had their own frown of concern and worry planted upon their faces.

“ ** _No_ _More_**.”

With that, Phoenix’s right wing suddenly snapped forwards with the speed of light, it clipped Clint and Natasha with such a force that it sent them hurtling back into Thor and Steve, causing them all to crash to the ground in an instant, apart from Thor who merely staggered and grimaced. The wing came to an abrupt stop just inches from Bruce’s own body, but still it was enough to catapult him through the air and into a heap on the tiled flooring.

Pepper shrieked, and Rhodes grimaced at the sight, latching his arms around her to stop her from getting herself hurt. As much as he wanted to run and get his best friend to just _snap out of it,_ he knew that it would be no use, what HYDRA did to him is unaccounted for.

In a sudden, Phoenix unexpectedly staggered back, loosing his balance as his eyes rolled back into his head, he grunted and his body flopped to the ground, legs sprawled out in front of him, back propped clumsily against the wall. He breathed out vastly, eyes not focusing in anything in particular.

”Shit.” Bruce cursed, skin tinged green as he still fought off the other-guy’s uncontrollable rage

”Friend Banner, are you alright?” Thor queried as he helped the team to their feet

”Yep, I’m.. I’m alright.” He spluttered out as he staggered his way back to standing

His eyes latched onto the Phoenix’s crumpled form and he sighed, dragging a hand down his face.

”looks like the sedative is kicking in after all.” He muttered

”Hey- Pepper!” Rhodes yelled suddenly as Pepper pried herself free from his grasp “Don’t, he could hurt you!”

”Look at him James! He’s struggling to _cope_.” She sobbed, eyes teary “if I managed to calm him before, I don’t see why I can’t do it again.”

Rhodes straightened his back at the remark, nodding sharply in acceptance as he looked away from the scene, a hand clasped over his mouth.

Pepper settled next to Phoenix’s side, kneeling down and cupping her hands around his face, forcing him to look at her. She noticed how his breathing was shallower than before, how his eyes drooped in weariness.

”Tony?” She asked quietly

 

No response.

 

Phoenix’s eyes began to droop, and his head lolled to one side.

”Tony?..” she said, this time a little louder ”Don’t go to sleep. Please, you need to come back to me- Tony! -No look at me!”

”Tony!” She shouted, and he jerked at the volume, eyes flirting upwards, hands grasping at her own “Tony, look at me!”

Phoenix did as he was told, his eyes locked with hers, a swirling red against an emerald blue. He stilled, observing with a slight frown upon his brow.

”Pep?” He asked, barely audible “Pepper?”

”Yeah, I’m here.” She replied softly

”W-What happened?” He asked, the confusion now clear on his face as the red tinge of his eyes faded to their original chocolate brown

He tilted his head to the right, moving Pepper’s hands so that he could see properly. The Avengers stood in the demolished remains of a corridor, batten and bruised from his outburst. He took a sharp intake of breath at the sight, and his eyes flashed with an intense blaze of light, wings twitching with a need to attack. He made an almost inhuman growl from deep within his throat as his fists clenched and his brow knitted into a wildly piercing stare.

”Hey- hey, Tony.” Pepper said calmly, yet with an ounce of wariness. She forced his head back from the sight of the remaining Avengers with one hand and locked eyes with him, pinning his arms close to his body with the other.

He squirmed within her grasp, eyes straining to look past her but Pepper wasn't having it.

”Tony, look at me.” She commanded, now more confident

”I-I’m sorry, I- oh god I’m so sorry I don’t- I-i can’t control it” he gasped “I c-can’t, I- just _can’t.”_

He whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut and leaning into Pepper’s form with unsteady hands and shaking wings.

”W-What’s happening to me?” He questioned 

“I don’t know, Tony.” She said, stroking the black locks his hair in a calming gesture “That’s HYDRA’s question to answer.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Do you think we should tell SHIELD?” Clint asked

”That’s the last thing that Tony would want.” Bruce replied firmly “You know how much he hated Fury’s ways.”

”Yeah, but they are going to get curious after a while.” He said, crossing his arms “Think about it, we just fought a powerful individual that had the capabilities to take out the _whole_ of New York, and we’re holding him in _our_ Tower-“

”-Technically, it’s still Tony’s Tower-“ Bruce corrected

”-Don’t you think that seems a little suspicious? ‘Cause I do.”

”Alright, nobody’s calling nobody.” Rhodes said as he entered the room, followed closely by Natasha and Steve “Not yet, anyways.”

”How is he?” Bruce asked

”Pepper’s occupying Tony in the med bay, it should be fairly safe while he is focused on her.” Natasha stated and Bruce sighed

”We’re going to keep this among ourselves until we figure something out.” Steve added “We can’t let it get out that Tony is in this state, the authorities will want to throw him in a secured dark cell to rot, and that’s the last thing we want to happen.”

”But what if we _need_ somebody else to help and sort this mess out?” Clint asked “We can’t solve this mess by ourselves, like you said before, this is the Red Skull we’re talking about. Whenever he’s involved, nothing is going to be that simple.”

”It never is.” He replied, giving a pointed look in Clint’s direction

”Friend Barton does indeed have a valid point.” Thor started “It need not be SHIELD who helps us in our ventures, however, how do we plan to make process in such a situation is Friend Stark is in such dire need of help? If some being could fix his state, perhaps Friend Stark could be a great help with finding who and how this mess was caused.”

”Yeah, Thor, But Tony can’t even look at us right now, he has like a... a  _trigger_ in his mind; anything to do with the mention of the Avengers, it sends him off it.” Natasha reminded Thor

”And it’s only a matter of time until something dire occurs on our part that will change both his, and our lives forever.” He replied grimly

”I-I might know somebody that can help.” Bruce stated “I’m not sure it would work, but he would definitely be willing to help us.”

”Who?” Rhodes asked

”Charles Xavier. Professor Charles Xavier.” Bruce replied

”As in the mutant? the telepath?” Clint quirked “The leader of the X-Men?”

Bruce nodded in response.

”Damn.” Clint mused ”But how can he help?”

”The Professor has an x-gene mutation which grants him a sort of telepathy, as Clint just announced.” Bruce started “He Can, and had been known to be able to create _mental blocks_ if you like in an individual’s brain, which in theory, could separate what’s left of our Tony, and the ‘ _Phoenix entity_ ‘ which HYDRA put into his body. If the Professor could block out the Phoenix entity, even for a short period of time, it could allow us to get some potential information of the Red Skull’s location, etc, from Tony whilst this procedure is in action.”

”But can Xavier keep a secret, Bruce?” Clint inquired “Like we said, we can’t afford to let news of this situation spread.”

”The Professor isn’t the type of person to just let news like that out Clint.” He Replied “And I’m sure when it involves a form of genetic mutation, he will be highly willing to help us, and he won’t just let the news out. He wants to protect the mutants from the discrimination that they never deserved.”

“This could work.” Steve agreed “Do you have anyway getting in contact with him?”

”Yeah, i’ll see what I can do.” Bruce nodded

Bruce pulled out a cell phone from his pocket and began to search through the contacts list when he was halted by an abrupt crash and a cacophony of shout and screams mixed with the distinctive sound of advanced machinery powering up.

The team froze. Everyone looked to the door that it was coming from.

”Hey guys, Pepper and Tony are down there...” Clint whispered 

 

 

**_ To Be Continued... _ **

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for the wait on this one, I’ve been hella busy with Exams D:  
> Now those are over and done with, I’ll hopefully have more time to add to the story :D
> 
> Also, I’ve read through all of your feedback, and honestly, it means a lot! So thanks for the comments, and I hope you enjoy! ;D


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